Every year, the MLK planning committee invites students, faculty and staff to participate in a week of events celebrating the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Below is a summary of events from previous years.
2021 Events
John R. Thompson Jr Award Celebration
The university presented the 2021 John Thompson Jr. Legacy of a Dream Award to Christopher Bradshaw, Founder and Executive Director of Dreaming Out Loud. The event featured a special musical presentation Selflessness by Nolan Williams, Jr.
Teach the Speech 2021
Since 2013, faculty and staff across the University have participated in a cross-campus curricular initiative by teaching specific speeches from Dr. King in their courses and educational speeches. Faculty and staff were encouraged to “Teach the Speech” and incorporate Dr. King’s 1965 speech entitled “Our God is Marching On” during the Spring 2021 semester.
Melanin in Medicine
Melanin in Medicine is an annual series of intimate, thoughtful, and powerful virtual round table discussions, led by clinicians, honoring and celebrating Black History Month with in-depth conversations about the experience of interacting with the medical field as a Black community. The 2021 edition, #BlackDoctorsMatter: Enriching Medicine Since 1837, was inspired by a series of all too familiar events in 2020 and the reverberating impacts of these repeated transgressions into 2021.
Unarmed Civilian Protection and Accompaniment Training
The Program on Justice and Peace (JUPS) at Georgetown College hosted a two-segment Unarmed Civilian Protection and Accompaniment training. Unarmed Civilian Protection and Accompaniment is a methodology for teams that offer direct protection of civilians and others, reduction of hostility, re-humanization of parties, as well as work to increase local peace infrastructures.
Virtual Panel Event: “Cultivating DC’s Food Economy to Sustain Racial Justice”
The Georgetown MLK Initiative hosted a virtual panel event and conversation on “Cultivating DC’s Food Economy to Sustain Racial Justice.” The event featured a panel of experts and leaders at the forefront of advancing racial equity and justice, through systemic change grounded in policy development, research and grassroots advocacy efforts in our Washington, D.C. community: Kenyan McDuffie, Christopher Bradshaw, Yuki Kato, Erinn Tucker, and Adanna J. Johnson (moderator).
2020 Events
In a 2020 event, prior recipients of the John Thompson Jr. Legacy of a Dream Award offered reflections on their mission, efforts and the leadership they provide through their organizations in the Washington, D.C. community, during a panel discussion moderated by Adanna Johnson, Ph.D., Associate Vice President for Student Equity and Inclusion. Legacy of a Dream Award honorees featured on the panel include 2017 honoree, Abel Enrique Núñez, Executive Director of the Central American Resource Center (CARECEN); 2020 honoree, Sandra Jackson, Executive Director of House of Ruth; and 2015 honoree, George Jones, Chief Executive Officer of Bread for the City.
Living the Dream: Advocacy, Service, and DC’s Beloved Community
Health Equity Forum: Why Doctors Should Care about Human Rights
Dr. Ranit Mishori, MD, MHS, FAAFP and a Professor of Family Medicine at Georgetown University School of Medicine spoke at this event. Dr. Mishori is a recognized expert and advocate for the health of the public in general, and of marginalized populations in particular. She presented a lecture on exploring the care of immigrant and refugee communities through a human rights lens.
JUPS Training: Nonviolent Communication
This training was an introduction to the theory and practice of nonviolent communication, with particular emphasis on key skills. The facilitator was Ryan McAllister, who has facilitated over 300 workshops, support group meetings, and dialogues based on nonviolent communication, peer-counseling, mindfulness, and oppression and liberation theory.
Health Justice for All: Defending Immigrant Health and Human Rights
This was an opportunity to remember Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s legacy and reflect on current health justice initiatives for immigrants and refugees.
Race, Community & Belonging: A Blueprint for the 21st Century
Race, Community & Belonging: A Blueprint for the 21st Century was a racial justice lecture featuring Professor Robin Lenhardt (L’04), a Professor of Law and the Faculty Director for the Center on Race, Law and Justice at Fordham University.
Discussion with Ieasha Prime
A dinner and discussion with Sister Ieasha Prime, Director of Women’s Programming at Dar al Hijrah Islamic Center in Virginia and the founder of the DC Muslim Women’s Conference. She discussed African American women’s contributions to Islam in America.
Race and Higher Education
The 2020 Race and Higher Education featured Rhonda Magee, a University of San Francisco Professor of Law, Storyteller, Mindfulness Teacher, and Social Justice Advocate. The topic was Doing the Inner Work of Racial Justice: Principles, Practices (and Prayers!) for Healing Ourselves and Transforming the World.
America’s Black Muslim Heritage
Amir Muhammad, the president, co-founder, and curator of America’s Islamic Heritage Museum, joined us for a discussion on America’s Black Muslim heritage, in honor of Black History Month. For the two days leading up to the dinner discussion, we had the unique opportunity to view Mr. Muhammad’s exhibits in the ICC exhibition space.
MLK Evening of Hope and Resistance
The evening consisted of original spoken word and poetry readings and musical performances from students and organizations.
2019 Events
Nonviolent Resistance: Strategic Campaign Planning
This training was on nonviolent resistance, with particular emphasis on strategic campaign planning. Michael Beer, whose experience includes leadership roles in Nonviolence International and Peace Brigades International, co-facilitated the training with Nadine Bloch, who is a community organizer and author of Beautiful Trouble: A Toolbox for Revolution.
MLK Day of Learning
The event provided Georgetown graduate students with an opportunity to interactively investigate the meaning and relevance of Dr. King’s values and teachings, while incorporating those values in our understanding of self, interaction with others, and commitment to service.
Let Freedom Ring! Concert
The annual Legacy of a Dream award recognition night, Let Freedom Ring!, was presented by Georgetown University in collaboration with the Kennedy Center and celebrated the John Thompson Jr. Legacy of a Dream awardee. For 2019, Hawah Kasat, founder of the organization One Common Unity received the award. The Let Freedom Ring! Choir, directed by Rev. Nolan Williams Jr., performed alongside Tony, Emmy, and Grammy-award winning artist, Audra McDonald, and two-time Tony-award winning artist, Brian Stokes Mitchell.
Speaking Up: Responding to Everyday Prejudice, Stereotypes, Bias, and Racism
Speaking Up: Responding to Everyday Prejudice, Stereotypes, Bias, and Racism, led by the Office of Equity & Inclusion, gave our community the opportunity to learn the nationally-renowned four-step protocol developed by Teaching Tolerance and practice these tools with fellow cultural affinity group leaders. These techniques can be used as a method to promote coalition building and collaboration.
Can I Live!?: Black Women’s Lives in America
Georgetown Law professors Jill Morrison, Kristin Henning, Paul Butler, and Sheryll Cashin led an important panel discussion on the alarming impact of institutional racism on the lives of Black Women in America.
Paul Miller aka DJ Spooky and “Rebirth of a Nation”
Paul D. Miller aka DJ Spooky, discussed racial imagery, social circuitry, and cultural (mis)representation using examples from his film, “Rebirth of a Nation,” a remix of D.W. Griffith’s 1915 film, “The Birth of a Nation.” Miller’s re-telling of this overtly racist story, depicted in the Reconstruction-era Southern U.S., hurtles Griffith’s imagery into the 21st century, a sociopolitical landscape that has evolved beyond all expectations.
Melanin in Medicine: Dissecting Diverse Experiences
Melanin in Medicine: Dissecting Diverse Experiences was inspired by the numerous, often undervalued, African American contributions to medicine. From the immortal Henrietta Lax to medical revolutionaries Jocelyn Elders and Dr. Daniel Hale Williams, we aim to honor, celebrate and bring in-depth conversations about medicine, African American influence, and navigating the practice of medicine as students, patients, and practitioners.
German Department Teach-In About Dr. King’s Visit to East and West Berlin
Every German class had a “teach-in” about Dr. King’s visit to East and West Berlin on September 13th, 1964. During this important visit, Dr. King visited the Berlin Wall and gave the same sermon on “God’s Children on both sides of the Wall” in both West and East Berlin. This speech, even among German Studies scholars, is not well known, and the German Department hopes to contribute to highlighting a little-known but important aspect of Dr. King’s life and message and its resonance and relevance in then divided Germany and Berlin.
Healing and Justice: Perspectives on Resilience in the African American Community
The conversation featured two distinguished panelists, Dr. Lucile Adams-Campbell and Rev. Dr. Yolanda Pierce, and was moderated by Dr. Adanna Johnson. This dynamic discussion explored physical, spiritual, and mental health as it relates to the African American community. Led by three extraordinary women, each leaders in their respective fields, the conversation focused on their expertise and experience in bridging academia and direct service to the community.
Reflections & Milestones: What’s Happening to Black DC?
The event included reflections by Professor Maurice Jackson, Georgetown University Associate Professor of History and African-American Studies on Georgetown’s analysis and report, African American Employment, Population & Housing Trends in Washington, DC. The program also featured Lamont King of Thinkertainment, Temi Bennet, Esq., from the Consumer Health Foundation, and performances by Ballou High School Choir and Blacks in Wax, Cora Masters Barry.
Evening of Hope and Resistance
In 2019, the MLK Initiative: Let Freedom Ring! honored Dr. King’s legacy of captivating hearts and ears through an evening of spoken word, poetry, and music. Our hope was that, through this evening of reflection and artistic expression, we stirred imaginations for change and hope for the future.
Race and Higher Education: “Hoyas Building a Beloved Community: A conversation with Georgetown’s Equity and Inclusion Leadership”
This event featured a conversation on issues of justice, equity, and inclusion in higher education with three university leaders: Susan Cheng, Ed.L.D., M.P.P., Senior Associate Dean for Diversity and Inclusion, School of Medicine; Judith Pérez-Caro, Ph.D., Director of Equity and Inclusion, GU Law Center; and Adanna Johnson, Ph.D., Senior Associate Dean of Students & Director of Diversity, Equity, and Student Success, Main Campus.
Friday Music Series: Khris Royal and Dark Matter
Saxophonist Khris Royal’s ancestors, Nace and Biby Butler, were among the people sold by the Jesuits of Maryland down to plantations in Southern Louisiana in 1838. Royal represents the living tradition of jazz music in New Orleans, and he consistently explores and re-imagines the relations between jazz, funk, rock, and hip hop.
Finding Your Voice
Protestant Ministry presented a dynamic speaker series to honor Women’s History Month, featuring Women in Ministry. This series aimed to empower, inspire, ignite, and illuminate the voices of women of every age, race, and faith tradition.
Dr. Melvin Butler, University of Miami – Playing with Fire: Sound, Transcendence, and Protest in African Diasporic Ritual Performance
This talk explored black music as a means of claiming cultural legitimacy and contesting forces of racialized oppression. Drawing on ethnomusicological fieldwork in African American and Caribbean ritual contexts, it examined “heated” music making as an embodied cultural strategy of resistance and protest.
Black Theater Ensemble Presents: The Colored Museum
Bringing the Black experience and contemporary cultural myths to life in revolving exhibits, The Colored Museum is a winding and musical tour through a history of American Blackness. An electrifying and discomforting satire directed by Mar Cox (COL’17), The Colored Museum‘s exhibited showcase stereotypes within Black American culture that linger in our post-Trump society.
2018 Events
Service Honoring the Life and Legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. on the 50th Anniversary of his Assassination
This event featured a performance by Jason Moran, Distinguished Artist in Residence at Georgetown University, Internationally acclaimed jazz pianist, composer for the film Selma, and MacArthur Foundation “Genius” awardee, and a sermon by Dr. Eric Williams, Curator of Religion, Center for the Study of African American Religious Life, National Museum of African American History & Culture.
Teach-In for Faculty and Staff: Teach Dr. King’s Speech
This Teach-In offered rich resources for teaching and reflecting on Dr. King’s 1968 speech “I’ve Been to the Mountaintop”. The session featured a keynote address by Professor Clarence Hardy III, Ph.D. Professor Hardy spoke on the context of the United States at the time that Dr. King gave this speech and its implications for today.
Unarmed Civilian Protection
The Program on Justice and Peace (JUPS) hosted a training in the skill of unarmed civilian protection. This skill is sometimes referred to as unarmed peacekeeping and we learned its application in the context of peace teamwork and Cure Violence’s “violence interrupters” public health approach.
Let Freedom Ring! Celebration featuring Vanessa Williams and the John Thompson Jr. Legacy of a Dream Award Presentation
The program featured Vanessa Williams and the Let Freedom Ring! Choir, with Music Director Rev. Nolan Williams Jr. Georgetown University awarded the 16th annual John Thompson Jr. Legacy of a Dream Award to Mr. Steve Park, Executive Director of Little Lights Urban Ministries.
Mass Incarceration and Solitary Confinement Exhibit
The Prisons and Justice Initiative invited the Georgetown community to confront the dual realities of mass incarceration and solitary confinement–and the overwhelming racial disparities that apply to both–in contemporary America. Visitors were able to spend up to 30 minutes inside the cell, and afterwards they shared their reflections on the experience.
Supermax and The Threat to Human Dignity
We hosted a special panel discussion on solitary confinement, centered around a talk by leading psychiatrist Terry Kupers about his new book, Solitary: The Inside Story of Supermax Isolation and How We Can Abolish It.
Kalief Browder and Rikers Island: An American Nightmare
We hosted a partial showing and an engaged discussion of the extraordinary documentary, Rikers: An American Jail, produced and commissioned by journalist Bill Moyers. The event included a discussion with several survivors of Rikers Jail who are featured in the film.
Book Talk and Breakfast: Becoming a Citizen Activist: Stories, Strategies and Advice for Changing Our World by Nick Licata
A light breakfast and conversation with Nick Licata, who reflected on various strategies for promoting effective social change.
The Voice: Medical Edition – Candid Consciousness vs. Silent Protest
This session was a play off of the popular TV show The Voice, in which we used an expert panel to help mold budding medical professionals into empowered clinicians. We openly discussed the unique position of the socially conscious physician given the current climate of racial/ethnic, socioeconomic, religious, gender and sexual identity bias.
Policing the Black Man: Intersections of Race & Criminal Justice
A conversation with Professor Angela Davis (AU Washington College of Law), Dean Kristin Henning (GULC), Renée Hutchins (UM Carey Law), and Roger Fairfax (GW Law) about their book, Policing the Black Man: Arrest, Prosecution, and Imprisonment, addressing one of the most urgent racial justice issues today as we commemorate Black History Month.
Black Panther Private Screening & Post-Film Discussion
The GU Black Student Alliance and the Black House hosted a private screening and subsequent discussion of Marvel’s upcoming film Black Panther.
Book Talk: Making College Work – Pathways to Success for Disadvantaged Students by Harry Holzer and Sandy Baum
This event featured Harry Holzer, Professor of Public Policy at the McCourt School at Georgetown University, and Sandy Baum, Senior Fellow at the Urban Institute, and their newly released book, Making College Work – Pathways to Success for Disadvantaged Students. Their book highlights practical solutions for improving higher education opportunities for economically diverse students.
Report Release: African American Employment, Population, and Housing Trends in Washington, D.C.
This panel event spotlighted Professor Maurice Jackson’s engaged scholarship and service as the first Chair of the DC Commission on African American Affairs, appointed by DC Mayor Vincent Gray in 2013. Dr. Jackson, Associate Professor of History and African American Studies, presented findings from his compelling DC-based research documented in this publication, African American Employment, Population, and Housing Trends.
Outspoken: Rise Up
GU NAACP and GU Women of Color, at the intersection of activism and art, hosted their annual open mic night. Outspoken was an event that brought together the Georgetown community for performance of spoken word, song, and dance. We were pleased to have special guest Anthony McPherson performing at the 2018 event.
Black Politics: Past and Present
This student-moderated conversation broached topics such as the evolution of African-American party affiliations, what the American political landscape looks like for black people in the current political moment, and how Dr. Martin Luther King’s legacy of social justice plays a role in black politics today.
At the River I Stand – Film Screening
Directed by David Appleby, Allison Graham, and Steven Ross, At the River I Stand transports viewers back to Memphis in 1968 through newsreel footage, still photos, and interviews. It tells the story of Memphis’ black sanitation workers, who walked off the job to protest inhumane conditions, low pay, and the recent deaths of two of their own while on the job.
Memphis: How a City Atones for Killing King
Nearly 50 years ago, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. came to Memphis to support low-wage workers being mistreated by a segregationist mayor and disrespected by white power brokers. Today, Memphis is the poorest large metro area in the nation – the result of a series of choices that keep workers poor and black residents on the margins. Award-winning journalist and longtime Memphian Wendi C. Thomas explored what the city has done with King’s sacrifice, the good and the bad.
Whose Promised Land? Panel Discussion and Reception
The Council of the District of Columbia and Georgetown University co-hosted a panel discussion to reflect on 1968 in Washington, DC, following the assassination of Dr. King. Panel participants included Virginia Ali (Ben’s Chili Bowl), the Honorable Arrington Dixon (former Chairman, Council of the District of Columbia), Professor Maurice Jackson (Georgetown University), the Honorable Charlene Drew Jarvis (former Ward 4 Councilmember), and Father Raymond Kemp (Georgetown University).
2016 Events
MLK Curriculum Project
Guided by the 2016 theme, “Why We Can’t Wait,” Georgetown encouraged all members of the university community to reflect on the causes that call for urgent action, as well as proposed solutions while using #WhyGUCantWait on social media.
The Well Talks: Screening of Higher Learning
The first Well Talks of the spring semester took place MLK weekend and featured a screening of the film Higher Learning directed by John Singleton. The film highlights a blatant picture of racial, social, sexual and political disparities on a fictional college campus in 1995.
Let Freedom Ring! featuring Yolanda Adams and the John Thompson Jr. Legacy of a Dream Award Presentation
The program, part of the free daily performance series on the Millennium Stage, featured Grammy Award-winning gospel singer Yolanda Adams and the Let Freedom Ring Choir, Music Director Rev. Nolan Williams Jr. Georgetown University awarded the 14th annual John Thompson Jr. Legacy of a Dream Award to Nakeisha Neal Jones, Georgetown alumna and executive director of Public Allies DC, one of the first AmeriCorps national service programs.
Talk with Professor Anthony Cook: How Does our Current Racial & Political Climate Intersect with Justice Work
GU Law Center hosted its first Faith & Justice Conversation of the spring as part of MLK Week. Anthony Cook, Professor of Law and Author of The Least of These: Race, Law and Religion in American Culture, dissected the current intersections among race, politics and the law during this hour-long discussion.
Reflective Discussion of Dr. King’s Nobel Prize Acceptance Speech and Implications for Health Equity in Medicine
Panel discussion included Dean Dennis Williams, Associate Dean of Students at the Georgetown University Center of Multicultural Equity and Access, and Dr. Susan Cheng, Sr. Associate Dean for Diversity and Inclusion. The School of Medicine hosted a viewing of the Nobel Peace prize speech and interactive discussion regarding contemporary issues of equity in health care.
Interfaith Service of Remembrance and Reconciliation
As the first spring event in the Year of Mercy at Georgetown, the Interfaith Service of Remembrance and Reconciliation centered on the healing power of remembrance as it relates to racial reconciliation and justice. As part of our time of prayer, we honored the 272 enslaved human beings sold in 1838 by Presidents Mulledy and McSherry. We also took time to remember the families of the 272 from whom they were separated, the other enslaved human beings who are a part of Georgetown’s history, and others who have been denied their full humanity to this day.
Speaker on Voter Rights: Lecia Brooks, Director of Outreach at the Southern Poverty Law Center
Lecia Brooks took a past and present look at voting rights in the United States after a screening of Selma: The Bridge to the Ballot.
Why Black Doctors Matter
The Georgetown University School of Medicine hosted an opportunity to engage in provocative conversation with a panel of healthcare experts representing a wide array of disciplines. The discussion focused on ideas that help bridge cross-cultural communication gaps due to mistrust, absent cultural understanding, and variable health literacy in African American patients.
A Conversation on Higher Education and Race With Dr. Benjamin Reese and Lauren Reese (COL’12)
A lunchtime conversation on higher education and race featuring Dr. Benjamin Reese, Vice President and Chief Diversity Officer of Duke University, and his daughter, Georgetown alumna Lauren Reese (COL’12).
2014 Events
Georgetown and the March on Washington
Members of the Georgetown community shared their experiences from the March on Washington and their personal interactions with Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. during a 2014 panel discussion that included Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-D.C.), Georgetown professors Richard America and Deborah Tannen, Rev. Raymond Kemp, S.J., and Rabbi Harold White.