Complete Event Schedule
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Sunday, January 20 | Monday, January 21 | Tuesday, January 22 | Wednesday, January 23 | Thursday, January 24 | Friday, January 25
23rd Annual University/Community Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial Banquet | 6:00 p.m. | William & Ida B. Friday Center for Continuing Education | map
Keynote Speaker: Rev. Chancy R. Edwards, Pastor Emeritus, First Baptist Church, Fayetteville, NC and Senior Advisor to the Governor of North Carolina.
Update: Banquet tickets are now sold out
You are also invited to make contributions to the MLK Scholarship Fund by sending donations to P.O. Box 612, Chapel Hill, NC 27514.
- Contact: Diversity and Multicultural Affairs at 919-962-6962
- Sponsor: University/Community MLK Planning Corporation
Martin Luther King, Jr. Federal Holiday Observance
Day for Service | 8:30 a.m. | Meet at Great Hall, Carolina Union | map
This program brings Carolina students together in order to give back to the greater Chapel Hill community. Pre-registration is required at http://www.unc.edu/rocts.
- Contact: Mia Barnes at miabarnes87@unc.edu
- Sponsor: Carolina R.O.C.T.S. (Rejuvenating Our Community Through Service)
MLK Youth Leadership Program | 9:30 a.m. | Meet at Multipurpose Room, Carolina Union | map
This program offers middle school students the chance to explore King’s dream through games, activities and performance. More information is available at http://www.unc.edu/rocts.
- Contact: Mia Barnes at miabarnes87@unc.edu
- Sponsor: Carolina R.O.C.T.S. (Rejuvenating Our Community Through Service)
He Was a Poem: A Gathering in the Tradition | 7:00 p.m. | Robert and Sallie Brown Gallery and Museum, The Sonja Haynes Stone Center for Black Culture and History | map
This event will explore King’s legacy through music, poetry and spoken word. Guests include musician Bradley Simmons of the Duke University Djembe Ensemble, poets Michael and Lita Simanga, and spoken word artists Kim Arrington and UNC junior Donovan Livingston.
- Contact: Ursula Littlejohn at ulittlej@email.unc.edu
- Sponsor: Sonja Haynes Stone Center for Black Culture and History
Candlelight Vigil | 6:30 p.m. | McCorkle Place, around the Old Well | map
Join us as we light candles and honor of the achievements of Martin Luther King, Jr. with brief speakers and performances.
- Contact: Nicole Murphy at nmurphy@email.unc.edu
- Sponsor: Theta Pi Chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc.
MLK Keynote Lecture: Ruby Dee and Presentation of 26th Annual Martin Luther King, Jr. Scholarship | 7:00 p.m. | Memorial Hall | map | ticket required
Actor...Activist...Author...Awe-inspiring! A performer of stage and screen for over 60 years, Ruby Dee has performed in over 50 films, including American Gangster (2007), Iconoclasts: Ruby Dee & Alicia Keys (2007), Jungle Fever (1991), Do the Right Thing (1989), Roots (1978), A Raisin in the Sun (1961), and The Jackie Robinson Story (1950). Dee was also
the first black woman to appear in major roles at the American Shakespeare Festival.
Her rich life has always extended far beyond the stage: Dee has been active with the NAACP, CORE, Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee and Southern Christian Leadership Council. She worked with Martin Luther King, Jr. and Malcolm X and has tirelessly continued on behalf of civil rights, voting rights and equal rights for all. In Dee's life, there has never been a choice between art and politics. "We need to make the changes, do the revolutions and make things right that will make it easier for our children and grandchildren," says Dee. With her husband, the late actor Ossie Davis, Dee has received the Screen Actors¹ Guild Life Achievement Award,
the Academy of Television Arts and Science's Silver Circle Award
and the
National Medal of Arts. The couple was also inducted into
the Theater Hall of Fame and the NAACP Hall of Fame. This event will be sign interpreted.
Ruby Dee Ticket Information: UNC Students: FREE Reserved-Seat Tickets available Thursday, January 10. UNC Students must present UNC One Card: Two tickets per One Card; Limit 2 One Cards per student. General Public: FREE Reserved-Seat Tickets available Wednesday, January 16. Limit 2 tickets per person. All tickets must be picked up in person from the Memorial Hall box office.
- Memorial Hall Box Office Information: 919-843-3333 (open 10 a.m. - 6 p.m. Monday-Friday) Note: Box office will be closed on Monday, January 21, 2008.
- Sponsors: The Chancellor's Committee for the Martin Luther King, Jr. Birthday Celebration, Carolina Union Activities Board, Student Government, Martin Luther King, Jr. Established Lecture Fund, Black Student Movement and Residence Hall Association
Annual Martin Luther King, Jr. Oratorical Contest | 7:30 p.m. | Upendo Lounge, SASB North | map
Oratorical contest participants will address “From Dreams to Reality: The Illusion of Full Inclusion.”
- Contact: Renae McPherson at at kappaomicrondst@gmail.com
- Sponsor: Kappa Omicron Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc.
Screening and Discussion with Filmmaker: "Faces of Change" | 5:00 p.m. | Room 1015 (Auditorium), Fedex Global Education Center | map
Join filmmaker Michele Stephenson for the North Carolina debut of “Faces of Change," an award-winning documentary following the stories of five activists working to eradicate racism in New Orleans, Mauritania, India, Brazil and Bulgaria. A discussion with the filmmaker will follow the screening.- Contact: Ashley Fogle at fogle@unc.edu
- Sponsors: Carolina Women's Center, Duke Center for Documentary Studies, African Studies Center, Center for Global Initiatives, Curriculum in International and Area Studies, Curriculum in Women’s Studies, University Program in Cultural Studies, Department of African and Afro-American Studies, Department of Asian Studies, Institute for African American Research, Institute for the Study of the Americas and Sonja Haynes Stone Center for Black Culture and History
Unity Dinner | 7:30 p.m. | Seminar Rooms and Gallery, Campus Y
In the spirit of Dr. King’s vision that people should be judged by the content of their character, not the color of their skin, Carolina students from an array of organizations will come together to share dinner and make new connections. Registration is limited.
- Contact: Bryce Jenkins at bjjenkin@email.unc.edu
- Sponsors: Mu Zeta Chapter of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc. and the UNC Chapter of NAACP
The Lived Experience of Race: Reflections on "A Class Divided " and MLK's Dream of a Better Tomorrow | 3 Showtimes: 12:15 p.m., 1:15 p.m. and 2:15 p.m.. | Great Hall, Carolina Union | map
In this experiential screening, participants will be seated based on eye color to view selections of the PBS documentary “A Class Divided”, which recounts school teacher Jane Elliot’s “blue eye, brown eye” exercise, and Martin Luther King’s “I Have A Dream” speech.
- Contact: Paul Shorkey at pshorkey@email.unc.edu
- Sponsor: Campus Y
“I, Too, Sing America”: The New Frontier | 7:00 p.m. | Great Hall, Student Union
If we had the opportunity to start all over again, how could our world be different? This performance will help us imagine the possibilities through song, dance and spoken word.
- Contact: Racine Peters at rlpeters@email.unc.edu
- Sponsor: Black Student Movement