Wittenberg will celebrate the life and legacy of Martin Luther King Jr. through a comprehensive series of virtual presentations on Tuesday, Jan. 19, and Thursday, Jan. 21.
Tuesday’s lineup will begin with the Martin Luther King Jr. Convocation presented by Ericka Huggins, a human rights activist, poet, educator, Black Panther leader, and former political prisoner, from 12 to 12:50 virtually as students return to campus for the spring semester. The presentation, “A Brave Space for Conversation,” can be accessed through Wittenberg’s Facebook page via Facebook Live and the University's YouTube page. Read more about her at https://bit.ly/3rZ4JUW.
Other special programming throughout the week is being sponsored by the campus organizations Concerned Black Students (CBS) and Wittenberg’s Diversity Advisory Committee (DAC), and will be presented by faculty members.
“CBS and the DAC have been wanting to move in the direction of a more robust workshop/lecture series for a couple of years,” said Nancy McHugh, professor of philosophy, department chair, and director of the new Wittenberg Institute for Public Humanities and Sciences. “One of the positive things that has come out of COVID-19 is that it has forced us to innovate, think, and work differently than we have. We thus used this to develop a Martin Luther King Jr. Week, which includes a lecture by the important civil rights leader, Ericka Huggins, and 11 workshops and lectures throughout the week. CBS and DAC are thrilled that Ms. Huggins was available.”
The workshops and lectures are between 50-60 minutes and are running in three different time slots on Tuesday and Thursday of MLK Jr. Week. The workshops are open to anyone who wants to attend, as is Ms. Huggins’ talk.
“There are so many exciting workshops and lectures that people are going to have to make hard choices about what ones they want to participate in virtually,” McHugh said. “I think every day should be civil rights day. It is not something that we should just attend to once a year. That said, I also think it’s important to recognize the life and legacy of Dr. King, especially now when there is so much violence and unrest. While Dr. King didn't state that ‘Black Lives Matter,’ King and other civil rights leaders made it clear that Black lives do matter and why we, as a country, need to attend to that to change our legacy of racial harm and discrimination. Right now, King's words, legacy, and practice, are even more critical for thinking about how we as a nation will move forward.”
In addition to Ms. Huggins’s address, special MLK Jr. events during the week include:
Tuesday, Jan. 19
4:30 to 5:30 p.m.:
“Healthcare Disparities in the United States: What Do We Know?” - John Thistlethwaite, associate professor of health and sport studies. Click here to join the meeting.
Meeting ID: 951 1127 1501 Passcode: E2yJRX
“Yellow Fever, Black Service, and White Prejudice: Philadelphia, 1793.” - Jennifer Oldstone-Moore, professor of religion and department chair. Click here to join the meeting.
Meeting ID: 846 7041 2864 Passcode: 615214
“The Revolution WAS televised: The impact of television news on the Civil Rights Movement.” - Kelly Dillon, assistant professor of communication and digital media. Click here to join the meeting.
“Brown v. Board of Education: Brown is almost 70!” - Brian Yontz, associate professor of education and department chair. Click here to join the meeting.
Meeting ID: 833 2307 3640 Passcode: 000039
Thursday, Jan. 21
Noon to 12:50 p.m.:
“England, the Americas, and the Brutality of the Transatlantic Slave Trade.” - Rick Incorvati, professor of English. Click here to join the meeting.
“King’s Ideology of Non-violence.” - Scott Rosenberg, H.O. Hirt Endowed Chair in History and director of the Peace Corps Prep program. Click here to join the meeting.
Meeting ID: 847 4233 1465 Passcode: 155357
"Understanding the Psychology of American Racism.” - William Davis, assistant professor of psychology. Click here to join the meeting.
“The Legacy of Ida B Wells: Social Researcher and Civil Rights Activists.” - Brooke Wagner, associate professor of sociology and director of the criminology program. Click here to join the meeting.
4:30 to 5:30 p.m.:
“Art and Anti-Racist Activism.” - Elena Dahl, assistant professor of art. Click here to join the meeting. Meeting ID: 859 3664 4928 Passcode: 688402
“Land Acknowledgements as Civil Rights Action.” - Lori Askeland, professor of English and department chair, with Jackson Brown ‘22. Click here to join the meeting.
Meeting ID: 857 6307 7451
“Just What was King’s Dream?” - Warren Copeland, professor of religion, faculty director emeritus of the Susan Hirt Hagen Center for Civic and Urban Engagement, mayor of Springfield. Click here to join the meeting.
Meeting ID: 818 5176 9500 Passcode: 840789
6:30 to 7:30 p.m.
CultureRead 2020 Action Event - Hosted by the Hagen Center and the City of Springfield. The event brings the Springfield community together to consider antiracist actions to address systemic racism as a follow up to CultureRead 2020.
Click here to join the meeting. Meeting ID: 875 6241 4837 Passcode: 686828
