| Queens College Commemorates Martin Luther King Jr. Day With a Free, Virtual Celebration on Sunday, January 17; Event Will Recall King's Appearance at the College-- With Guest Queens Borough President Donovan Richards; Highlights Include Musical and Dance Performances, a Special Video Presentation,
and a Discussion on King’s Enduring Legacy --
WHAT:
THE TIME IS NOW: FORWARD!, this year’s presentation of the annual Queens College Martin Luther King Jr. Day commemoration. The free, virtual event will celebrate King’s legacy and connection to today’s student activism and engagement. It will evoke King’s 1965 appearance at the college, where he emphasized the power of peaceful resistance in his address to students as the inaugural speaker in the John F. Kennedy Memorial Lecture Series, with today’s Queens College students quoting passages from his speech. Musical, dance, and spoken word performances are planned, as well as a special video presentation highlighting the college's history of activism. In addition, a panel of distinguished educators will discuss King’s enduring legacy.
WHO:
- Queens College President Frank H. Wu and Queens College Student Association President Zaire Couloute will serve as event cohosts
- Queens Borough President Donovan Richards, the first African American male to be elected to the office, will offer welcoming remarks
- Queens College Professor Antonio Hart, who directs the Jazz Studies program in the college’s Aaron Copland School of Music, will perform on saxophone
- Vocalist Alita Moses will perform a musical selection
- Queens College students Alisha Anderson and Kayra Theodore will present dance and spoken word performances, respectively
- Queens College History Professor Deidre Flowers, interim director of the college’s Africana Studies Program; Queens College History Professor Sandy Placido, inaugural Dominican Studies Scholar at the CUNY Dominican Studies Institute; and Rabbi Moshe Shur, former director of Hillel at the college, will discuss King’s enduring legacy and relevance, and efforts to achieve racial justice in higher education
WHEN:
Sunday, January 17, 2021, at 3 pm
Register here | Access performer bios and high-resolution images here
Quote from Queens College President Frank H. Wu
“I am enormously proud to lead an institution that in 1965 welcomed the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., to address its students as part of the John F. Kennedy Memorial Lecture Series. So much of what we do on our campus today continues to echo Dr. King's message — a tangible commitment to an environment that is respectful and supportive of our diverse student body, the ongoing work of our Center for Ethnic, Racial and Religious Understanding (CERRU), and the maintenance of a special collections archive in the Benjamin J. Rosenthal Library that chronicles the extensive civil rights activism of our alumni. In this event, our students will, as part of this commemoration, recite the words that Dr. King spoke here fifty-five years ago. Immediately following the event, there will be a panel discussion with distinguished educators. The public is welcome to join us at all parts of the celebration.”
Background
Queens College has a longstanding history of involvement in the struggle for equality and social justice. In 1964, Queens College student Andrew Goodman was slain, along with fellow civil rights workers James Chaney and Michael Schwerner, during a voter registration project in Mississippi. The following spring, as the inaugural speaker in the college’s John F. Kennedy Memorial Lecture Series, Dr. King emphasized the power of peaceful resistance. In 2015, at its 91st commencement ceremony—and fifty years after Dr. King’s address—the college awarded a posthumous honorary doctoral degree to Goodman.
About Queens College
Queens College produces more education graduates who become principals, teachers, and counselors for the city’s public schools than any other college in the metropolitan area. The college contributes to the local and regional talent pool as a powerful economic engine and as an acknowledged leader in tech education. Students from across the country and around the world are attracted to study at the Aaron Copland School of Music. Its renowned faculty and alumni include nationally recognized composers, conductors, and performers who have received over 100 Grammy Awards and nominations.
Queens College enjoys a national reputation for its liberal arts and sciences and pre-professional programs. With its graduate and undergraduate degrees, honors programs, and research and internship opportunities, the college helps its almost 20,000 students realize their potential in countless ways, assisted by an accessible, award-winning faculty. Located on a beautiful, 80-acre campus in Flushing, the college has been cited by Princeton Review as one of America's Best Value Colleges every year since the title's inception, as well as being ranked a U.S. News and World Report Best College and Forbes Magazine Best Value College thanks to its outstanding academics, generous financial aid packages, and relatively low costs. Visit our homepage to learn more. | |
|
|
