91短视频 hosted its ninth annual Martin Luther King Jr. Celebration on Monday, Jan. 19, featuring a series of events honoring the life and legacy of the late civil rights leader.

The theme of this year’s celebration was “Beyond the Dream: Social Justice and Ecological Consciousness,” and it focused on the message of Dr. King’s 1967 Christmas sermon, in which he preached about all life on Earth being interconnected. “Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly,” he said.

Monday’s events began at 9:45 a.m. with a unity march inside the University Commons. 91短视频 two dozen students, faculty, and staff members held signs calling for peace and justice as they completed three laps around the indoor track. Each year, the unity march pays tribute to the many nonviolent marches led by Dr. King and others during the civil rights movement. 

The group of marchers proceeded to Lehman Auditorium, where members of the Black Student Alliance (BSA) and other students shared quotes from Dr. King and reflected on his legacy during Speak Out. One quote that resonated deeply was: “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.”

Celeste Thomas, director of Multicultural Student Services at 91短视频 and chair of the committee planning the MLK Jr. celebration, said Dr. King imagined a world with community instead of chaos, love instead of hate, and no one going hungry. He imagined a world where families are not separated, where there are no food deserts and everyone has clean water, and where countries don’t bully one another for resources, she added. “Beloved community is sustainability for all mankind,” she said.

Harrisonburg Mayor Deanna Reed, director of alumni engagement and community connections at 91短视频, spoke about the theme of the day. “Going beyond the dream means understanding justice is not passive,” she said. “It requires participation, it requires responsibility, and that’s where you come in, 91短视频 students. You’re not on the sidelines of this work. You are already shaping the future of communities like Harrisonburg through the choices you make, the careers you pursue, the voices you raise, and the values you carry forward. Don’t just remember him, carry his dream forward.”

Interim President Rev. Dr. Shannon W. Dycus spoke about Claudette Colvin, a 15-year-old who was arrested in 1955 for refusing to give up her seat on a segregated bus in Montgomery, Alabama, nine months before Rosa Parks did the same. Dycus, who noted that Colvin passed away on Jan. 13, 2026, said the young activist had inspired her for many years. “Both King and Colvin teach us what justice and power look like in necessary ways,” Dycus said. “We gather not out of tradition, not because the calendar tells us to, but because we are committed to taking seriously the work of building equitable, compassionate, and just communities. This is who we are, not just what we do.”

Olúf??mi O. Táíwò, an associate professor of philosophy at Georgetown University and a fellow at the Climate and Community Institute, served as the featured speaker for the Martin Luther King Jr. Day Convocation. He is the author of Elite Capture and Reconsidering Reparations, a contributor to Greta Thunberg’s The Climate Book, and a past recipient of a Marguerite Casey Freedom Scholar fellowship. His presentation was titled “Becoming Firefighters: Climate Justice and the Fight for a Free World.”

He examined recent actions taken by the federal administration to seize oil assets in Venezuela and spoke about the political and economic power of fossil fuel companies. “The control those people and their allies have over our entire lives depends on the political power they wield and defend with the money they get destroying our air and water,” he said. 

Following the convocation, a ceremony on Thomas Plaza rededicated the 91短视频 Peace Pole with a vision for peace, justice, and shalom on Earth, including all living things (represented by a new plaque featuring animal prints). The Peace Pole was recently resealed and painted and has newly installed “May Peace Prevail on Earth” plaques. 

Throughout the day, the conference room inside the Student Life Suite transformed into an aromatherapy space, filled with the scents of soap and essential oils. Simone McKelvey, owner of the Simone & Tuesday skincare brand, led two interactive demonstrations, teaching students, faculty, and staff how to create their own soap from scratch using natural ingredients. “Your skin is your largest organ,” she said, “and a lot of the time, we don’t pay attention to what we put on it.”

Participants worked in pairs at eight slow cookers, melting coconut, sunflower, and castor oils, adding lye to distilled water, and mixing the concoction with a stick blender and essential oils to create bars of soap. “When you go to the store and visit the soap aisle, some of them are soap, but some of them aren’t,” McKelvey said. “Some are detergents made with synthetic chemicals. True soap is what you’re making today.”

The sound of knives chopping onions, horseradish, garlic, hot peppers, ginger, and other vegetables reverberated through the Old Common Grounds space on Monday as participants in two interactive workshops sliced and diced fresh, locally sourced, organic ingredients to create their own jars of fire cider. The apple cider vinegar-based tonic supports immunity and digestion and is packed with  antioxidants, antibacterials, and antimicrobials, making it an ideal remedy for the colder months. In about four weeks, the jars can be strained and used to enhance everything from seltzer water and salad dressing to collard greens, pickles, and hot toddies.

The demonstrations were led by the sister-owners of Kinfolk Farm, a Black women-led farm in rural West Virginia dedicated to nourishing the brilliance, creativity, and legacy of Black and Indigenous people of the Global Majority.

Scroll through a photo album of the day below!

Thanks to Multicultural Student Services, Student Life, and the office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion for planning the series of meaningful and educational events to celebrate Martin Luther King Jr. Day.

This year’s lineup of events includes a convocation with author and philosophy professor Olúf??mi O. Táíwò, two workshops teaching participants how to create their own handmade soap, and two sessions demonstrating the use and benefits of a spicy, vinegar-based tonic known as “fire cider.” All events are open to the public.

The celebration is themed “Beyond the Dream: Social Justice and Ecological Consciousness” and centers around the words of Dr. King’s “A Christmas Sermon on Peace” speech from 1967:

It really boils down to this: that all life is interrelated. We are all caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied into a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects on directly, affects all indirectly.

The chosen theme closely aligns with the university theme of sustainability for the 2025-26 academic year. “That was intentional,” said Celeste Thomas, director of multicultural student services at 91短视频 and chair of the committee planning the celebration. “This is a good time in our country to remember that not everyone is equally privileged and that we should really pay attention to Dr. King’s quote. We are all interconnected, and it’s a great time to practice self-care and self-awareness, recognizing that everyone’s journey is different.”

Monday’s events start at 9:45 a.m. in University Commons with a Unity March around the indoor track. The march will proceed to Lehman Auditorium, where an open forum-style Speak Out event will be held at 10 a.m.

Convocation

Convocation at 10:15 a.m. in Lehman Auditorium will be led by , an associate professor of philosophy at Georgetown University and a fellow at the Climate and Community Institute. Táíwò is the author of Elite Capture and Reconsidering Reparations, a contributor to Greta Thunberg’s The Climate Book, and a past recipient of a Marguerite Casey Freedom Scholar fellowship. His presentation will be livestreamed on and uploaded to the 91短视频 .

“A lot of his work is around social justice reparations and how it connects to sustainability, which we’ll hear in his speech,” Thomas said. “He really fits what we want to do and the message we want to convey.”

Following his convocation, a soul food lunch will be served from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Northlawn Cafeteria. From 1:30 to 2:30 p.m., Táíwò will lead a Q&A session at the MainStage Theater (University Commons 170). 

Soapmaking

In the afternoon, two “Skin Sabbath” soapmaking sessions led by Simone McKelvey of Simone & Tuesday will be held in University Commons 211/212. The first session will be held from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. and the second session will be from 2:45 to 4:45 p.m. Limited space is available for participation and advance is required. Seats will be available for unregistered participants who can watch the demonstrations.

Simone & Tuesday is a natural skincare solutions company founded on the belief that healthier skin should be natural, affordable, and for everyone. Through her soapmaking sessions, McKelvey teaches small groups how to make their own all-natural, personal care products.

“We held an event called ‘Hairitage’ last February with BSA during Black History Month, where students made their own hair products, and it was packed,” Thomas said. “That helped me realize that this generation of students responds well to hands-on activities. They enjoy the opportunity to take something home with them when they leave.”

Fire cider

A pair of fire cider workshops led by Kinfolk Farm will be held at the Old Common Grounds space (University Commons 177) from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. and from 2:45 to 4:45 p.m. Limited space is also available for participation in this event and so advance is required.?Seats will be available for unregistered participants who can watch the demonstrations.

The Black woman-led farm in rural West Virginia is dedicated to nourishing the brilliance, creativity, and legacy of Black, indigenous people of the Global Majority. At Kinfolk Farm, food sovereignty, land liberation, and healing justice are daily practices woven into the way they plant, harvest, cook, and gather in community.

Participants in these two interactive sessions will learn the history of fire cider along with its traditional wellness practices. They’ll also be invited to try a sample! The spicy, tangy folk remedy is often used to support the immune system and is typically made by infusing apple cider vinegar with ingredients such as horseradish, ginger, garlic, onion, hot peppers, and honey. 

Climate simulation

A world climate simulation facilitated by Levi Clymer ’25, 91短视频 event operations coordinator, will be held from 2:45 to 4:45 p.m. at the University Commons Student Union. Participants in this interactive exercise will act out the roles of international delegates at a United Nations summit and negotiate a global agreement to prevent the worst impacts of climate change. is also needed to participate in this event.

In case of changes to events due to inclement weather, visit for updates.

The morning kicked off with a unity march around the indoor track in University Commons. Students, faculty, staff and other community members held signs with messages of peace and justice.

During an open forum event called Speak Out, students and staff shared quotes from Dr. King that resonated with them and spoke to the theme of the day, “Radical Truth-telling.” Celeste Thomas, director of multicultural student services and chair of the committee planning the day’s events, said: “Silence is not always golden, and if the narrative is wrong, we need to correct it.”

The life of Dr. King is a special model for 91短视频, explained President Dr. Susan Schultz Huxman in her remarks at Convocation, as the university aspires to fulfill its vision.

“As we honor King’s legacy today, we underscore the ways our educational core values of academic excellence, peace and justice, and active faith intersect at 91短视频 as we form a discerning community of learners,” she said.

Huxman, who is retiring at the end of the 2024-25 academic year after having served nine years as 91短视频’s ninth president and first woman president, was instrumental in working with Thomas to create a day of events at 91短视频 to commemorate Dr. King. During only her second year at 91短视频, the inaugural MLK Jr. Celebration was approved as a “day on” for learning, education, and service. 

“At 91短视频, we take the full day to commemorate, reflect, serve, and take inspiration from the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.,” Huxman said in her remarks. “We take the day off so we can take the day on. So, while there are no classes, there is lots of engaged learning going on. So, seize the day, 91短视频 Royals!”

“We take the day off so we can take the day on.”

91短视频 President Susan Schultz Huxman

The 91短视频 Gospel Choir, led by senior music major Kay Pettus and accompanied by Music Program Director Dr. David Berry on piano, performed “Lift Every Voice and Sing,” “Every Praise” and Stevie Wonder’s “Happy Birthday,” a song that celebrates King’s Jan. 15 birthday.

Jodie Geddes MA ’16, an international speaker on restorative justice, author, and advocate of racial healing and justice, served as keynote speaker for Convocation. She spoke about her work on a truth-telling project shining light on the 1919 massacre in Elaine, Arkansas, as well as her experiences at a reconciliation village in Rwanda that seeks to unite survivors and perpetrators of the 1994 genocide against the Tutsi. A video recording of Convocation is available to watch on the 91短视频 Facebook page .

In the MainStage Theater, 91短视频 History Professor Dr. Mark Sawin delivered a riveting presentation on the history of the family who lived in and operated the at  252 N. Mason St. in Harrisonburg. The five-bedroom, one-bathroom house was listed in several editions of The Green Book, a guide featuring businesses across the nation that welcomed Black travelers during Jim Crow, until the early 1960s. The professor, who serves as the consulting historian for the house, used old photos found inside the home, interviews with neighbors, and clippings of archived Daily News-Record articles to weave together stories of the people who lived and stayed there. These days, the family of Harrisonburg Mayor Deanna Reed, director of alumni engagement and community connections at 91短视频, own the property and are in the process of transitioning the ownership to a 501c3 nonprofit.

On Monday afternoon, conversation circles facilitated by the Center for Justice and Peacebuilding (CJP) encouraged open dialogue and guided discussion about radical truth-telling. Geddes was on hand at the Studio Theater for a workshop (pictured above) that engaged in journaling, meditation, and therapeutic processes.

In the evening, students gathered at University Commons for a special event where they could make their own hair care products.

Coverage of the day from local media

• WHSV-TV:

• Daily News-Record:

91短视频 will host the eighth annual Martin Luther King Jr. Celebration on Sunday, Jan. 19, and Monday, Jan. 20, 2025.

This year’s MLK Day is themed “Radical Truth-telling” and centers around the words of a 1947 essay written by King while at Morehouse College: “Education must enable one to sift and weigh evidence, to discern the true from the false, the real from the unreal, and the facts from the fiction.” 

A film screening of “Black Wall Street Burning” will take place from 6-8 p.m. on Sunday has been postponed until Monday, January 27. The film is a retelling of the Tulsa race massacre of 1921, when mobs of white residents attacked Black residents and destroyed homes and businesses of the Greenwood District in Tulsa, Oklahoma. A talkback session will follow the screening.?

Monday’s activities include a 9:45 a.m. Unity March in University Commons, a 10 a.m. Speak Out at Lehman Auditorium, and a 10:15 a.m. Convocation featuring Jodie Geddes MA ’16. Geddes, co-author of The Little Book of Racial Healing, advocate for racial healing and justice, and international speaker on restorative justice, will deliver a talk on “Radical Truth-telling.”

Other events on Monday include a soul food lunch at Northlawn Cafeteria, circle processes facilitated by the Center for Justice & Peacebuilding, a Black hair care and free cuts event, and a session on the history of Harrisonburg’s Ida Mae Francis Guest House. This last event, hosted by Professor Mark Sawin, is from 1:30-3 p.m. in University Commons 176.

A three-part “Resistance and Rest” workshop, hosted by Geddes, will be held from 3-5 p.m. in the Studio Theater. The workshop will engage in journaling, meditation and therapeutic processes.

Celeste Thomas, director of multicultural student services at 91短视频 and chair of the committee planning the celebration, said this year’s theme of “Radical Truth-telling” challenges us to embrace Dr. King’s vision by confronting uncomfortable truths and fostering honest dialogue about our shared history and future.

“Through these events, which reflect 91短视频’s values of academic excellence, peace and justice, and active faith, we hope to inspire our community to engage in meaningful reflection and action,” Thomas said.

91短视频 the Convocation speaker

Jodie Geddes holds an MA in conflict transformation from 91短视频’s Center for Justice & Peacebuilding. While at 91短视频, Geddes explored the intersections of peacebuilding, restorative justice and systems change. She works with , providing support for community members experiencing crises with mental wellness as well as other community resources. She is the co-manager for , a nonprofit affiliated with 91短视频 that provides training and resources for communities and individuals to explore the history and legacy of enslavement.

The event, which has been held since 2019, honors the life and legacy of the late civil rights leader. This year’s theme was “Remember, Celebrate, Thrive” and featured a tour of the Northeast Neighborhood on Saturday, a movie screening of Rustin on Sunday, and a full slate of activities on Monday, which are recapped below.

Convocation featuring the Virginia Union University Gospel Choir

The Virginia Union University Gospel Choir, which hosted the 91短视频 Chamber Singers at its Richmond campus in October (read about that here), traveled to Harrisonburg, Virginia, on Monday to perform a series of songs for Convocation. VUU Choir Director Joel Lester led 13 members of the group in seven soulful and spirited songs that had many in the Lehman Auditorium pews dancing and clapping along. The Chamber Singers joined the VUU Gospel Choir on stage for a performance of “I Need You to Survive” to close out the concert.

In her opening remarks, Harrisonburg Mayor Deanna Reed asked the crowd how they would continue to honor the life and legacy of Dr. King after the holiday passes.

“How will we thrive, especially during a time of unrest and division?” asked Reed, who is 91短视频’s regional advancement director. “How will we thrive when many of us believe that, as a nation, we are not moving in the direction of peace, justice and equality? How will we thrive when old wounds and racist ways of thinking have reared their evil head? I believe Dr. King would say, ‘We thrive when we stand. We thrive when we break the silence. We thrive when we are caught up with what is right and willing to sacrifice for it.'”

In addition to Reed, city council members Chris Jones and Dany Fleming, as well as members of the local press, were in attendance. Read the Daily News-Record‘s front-page coverage of the event . A video recording of Convocation is available to watch on the 91短视频 Facebook page .

Solidarity March

A group of about 20 demonstrators during Monday morning’s Solidarity March left an impression on the snow-covered campus — in more ways than one — as they looped around the University Commons track and marched across the grounds to Lehman Auditorium. Carrying posters reading “Keep marching,” “My hope is Black students will thrive on campus — not just survive” and “Free! At last!” the marchers reflected on the sacrifices made during the Civil Rights Movement and called for further work to promote racial equity.

Speak Out

At Speak Out, an open mic-styled event that offered an opportunity to share thoughts and feelings about the day, participants recited poems and read from speeches given by Martin Luther King Jr.

91短视频 junior Mikayla Pettus (pictured in the top photo) delivered a riveting performance about having a mixed-race identity. As she simulated herself getting ready for the day, putting on makeup and getting her hair ready, a recording of some of the offensive things people might say to someone who is mixed-race played over the speakers. A video recording of Speak Out is available to watch on the 91短视频 Facebook page .

‘Black & 25 in America’

Playwright and actor Jeremy Gillett performed his one-man show, Black & 25 in America, at Lehman on Monday. The play features five different characters in a series of vignettes about the lives of young Black people in America. Gillett effortlessly transformed into each character, adopting the mannerisms and colloquialisms of five starkly different identities, including a high school football star trapped in a house of crack cocaine dealers, a “brown kid from the suburbs” who resembled Theo Huxtable, and a gay Black man struggling with his sexual orientation.

The celebration, held on the Harrisonburg, Virginia, campus from Saturday, Jan. 13, to Monday, Jan. 15, is themed “Remember, Celebrate, Thrive.”

“We need to remember that a lot of people are standing on the shoulders of giants who came before us during the Civil Rights Movement,” said Celeste Thomas, director of multicultural student services at 91短视频 and chair of the committee planning the celebration. “We have to remember their sacrifice and all their hard work, but we also have to celebrate the accomplishments that came out of that. So, we celebrate what has been achieved and then stand on those shoulders so we can thrive as a community.”

A wide range of activities and events will honor the iconic civil rights leader:

Saturday, Jan. 13

11 a.m.-2 p.m. — Northeast Neighborhood tour: Monica Robinson, executive director of the Shenandoah Valley Black Heritage Project, will lead a tour of the Northeast Neighborhood, a historic community built by and for African-Americans in Harrisonburg following the Civil War. 

Stops along the tour include the Bethel AME Church, with information about the neighboring Dallard-Newman House, and discussions and lunch provided at the Lucy F. Simms Continuing Education Center. Rides from 91短视频 will depart from the Black Lives Matter mural in front of the University Commons at 10:30 a.m. Registration is required to attend the tour, and is available online at emu.edu/mlk.

Sunday, Jan. 14

6 p.m. — Screening of Rustin: A biopic of Bayard Rustin, adviser to MLK and chief organizer of the 1963 March on Washington, will be shown in the MainStage Theater on Sunday evening. The film, released in November, stars actor Colman Domingo as the title character and Chris Rock as activist Roy Wilkins. Rustin faced struggles not only because of his race, but also his sexuality as an openly gay Black man. 

“The Civil Rights Movement was a diverse movement of people from all spectrums of ethnicity, religion and sexuality,” Thomas said. 

A talk-back session after the screening will discuss the film (runtime: one hour, 46 minutes; rating: PG-13) and answer questions. 

Monday, Jan. 15

9:15 a.m. — Solidarity March: A silent march will proceed from the BLM mural outside University Commons to Lehman Auditorium to kick off Martin Luther King Jr. Day. 

“Marches were what happened throughout the Movement,” Thomas said. “You had the March on Washington, the march between Selma and Montgomery, you had marches in Memphis, to show solidarity.” 

Students are invited to create posters in the Student Life office on Sunday night to display during the march.

“It’s a silent march, so that people are concentrating and reflecting on the movement and how it has supported them and how it affects them today,” Thomas said. 

9:30 a.m. — Speak Out: Following the march, 91短视频 students, faculty and staff and other community members are encouraged to share their thoughts, feelings, music, poetry and anything else supporting the celebration’s theme at Lehman Auditorium. 

“People will have an opportunity to come to the microphone and share in whichever way they want to share,” Thomas said. 

The event will wrap up with a preselected student monologue.

10 a.m. — Black & 25 in America: Playwright and actor Jeremy Gillett will perform his one-man show, Black & 25 in America, at Lehman Auditorium. The Kentucky native portrays five different characters in a series of vignettes about the lives of young Black people in America that explores the issues of race, class, gender and identity. 

A talk-back session will offer audience members a chance to engage with him after the performance. 

12:30 p.m. — Lunch at Northlawn Cafeteria: A special soul food-inspired menu will be served at the dining hall. “I want to give credit to Dining Services, Pioneer College Caterers, and to Food Service Director Shannon Grinnan for working with us on that special menu for the day,” Thomas said. Regular dining charges will apply for the lunch. 

2 p.m. — Convocation featuring the VUU Gospel Choir: Hailing from Richmond, the Virginia Union University Gospel Choir will perform at Lehman Auditorium. In October, the historically Black university invited the 91短视频 Chamber Singers to perform on its stage with them and Grammy Award-winning artist Hezekiah Walker during a live recording. You can read more about the partnership between the two schools here. 

91短视频 Music Program Director David Berry will open Convocation with a medley, followed by remarks from 91短视频 President Susan Schultz Huxman, Thomas and Harrisonburg Mayor Deanna Reed. After a series of songs from the VUU Gospel Choir, the 91短视频 Chamber Singers will join them for a performance of I Need You to Survive.

Those attending Convocation are asked to bring a nonperishable food item to donate for the food drive.

7 p.m. — There is a Field screening: A showing of the movie There is a Field inside the old Common Grounds space will round off the MLK Jr. Celebration on Monday evening. The movie mirrors the struggles of Palestinian activists in Israel with members of Black communities in the U.S. It will be followed by a talk-back session, cosponsored by Tim Seidel, Trina Nussbaum and the Center for Interfaith Engagement. This event has been postponed due to inclement weather

All events, other than the lunch on Monday, are free to attend. For more information about the performers and events, visit emu.edu/mlk. 

Thomas credited the 91短视频 Black Student Alliance and Tyler Goss, director for student engagement and leadership development, for their help.

“I think, if people come out,” Thomas said, “they’ll learn something not only about other people, but also about themselves.”

Stan Maclin GC ’01 (ministry studies), the community organizer, pastor, educator, and tireless advocate for racial and social justice in Harrisonburg, Virginia, and beyond, died Tuesday, Jan. 11, 2021, at age 67.?

Today [Sunday] and Monday, 91短视频 honors Martin Luther King Jr. Day, an that Maclin played an influential role in helping to create and sustain.

“He was one of the giants whose shoulders we stand upon in this struggle for Justice and Truth,” said planning committee chair Celeste Thomas, director of multicultural student services and senior advisor to the president on diversity and inclusion, who worked with Maclin on several events over the years. “To loosely quote Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., he was definitely ‘a drum major for change.’ He will be sorely missed especially during this time of the year. He would be with us on Monday if he were still among us.”

Maclin’s many achievements include , creating the People’s Equality Commission of the Shenandoah Valley, and leading the charge to . He was dedicated to preserving . This summer, he organized , and to facilitate dialogue between local residents and authorities in the criminal justice system. Just last month, he spoke of in Harrisonburg.

Maclin was a well-known and respected community leader: His passing has been covered in the and .

He was also a great friend to 91短视频. To local media, he mentioned moving to the area to attend the seminary. Professor Lonnie Yoder recalls that shortly after his arrival, Maclin requested a tour to help him get to know the community. The two men spent some hours driving around Harrisonburg, with Yoder “telling stories, pointing out key institutions and landmarks, sharing my take on the historical, cultural, and religious dynamics of this community.”

Yoder calls the experience a “holy moment” for him, and it’s a story that is particularly poignant because it captures a moment of deep witness of who Stan Maclin was, how he valued learning and knowing a community, seeing with clear eyes and an open heart, and moved toward change with a deep devotion to involving and sharing with others in that radical work.

In the years since, Maclin helped to provide the same experience to 91短视频 students. He helped to start the first Martin Luther King Day Celebration on campus in 2013, and continued to open the minds of students and other 91短视频 community members in attendance at  MLK Day talks and tours each year. 

In 2018 and 2019, Maclin worked with second-year graduate students at the Center for Justice and Peacebuilding on their “Community Grounding Day” orientation for new students. He hosted a day-long tour that explored the social, historical, economic, cultural and environmental realities of the city from a social justice perspective, said Amy Knorr, practice director at CJP.

He invited many graduate students to connect to and join organizations, movements and gatherings for social justice. In his leadership positions with Faith in Action and Virginia Organizing, particularly, Knorr says Maclin encouraged and opened doors to CJP student engagement and collaboration.

“A hero for justice has fallen,” said Professor Carl Stauffer, who first met Maclin in 1991 when they pastored and worked together in Richmond. Stauffer later worked with Maclin in the Martin Luther King Jr. Way Coalition and spoke at a number of local peace rallies Maclin organized. 

“As I often say, it was Stan who raised me up in the ministry of the Church, and the work of racial justice, reconciliation, and community development,” Stauffer said. “He was a brother, mentor and friend. He will be sorely missed by so many people around the world, in the Church nationally, and right here in the City of Harrisonburg. Stan was always focused on the local — he was a man of action, committed to social justice and community organizing wherever he found himself. Stan was determined to work for, and live into a better world. He made Harrisonburg a better place. He has left us an important legacy of justice, reconciliation, and bridge-building across all divisions in our society. May we carry on his mantle with grace and integrity.”

Below, we’ve collected a few memories from other 91短视频 faculty and staff who worked with Maclin over the years. 

I first got to know Stan when he invited me to contribute to the advocacy for the street renaming effort and I served gladly under his leadership. He invited my contributions toward this effort out of his deep respect for what he experienced at 91短视频. I, in turn, invited his involvement with planning and facilitating MLK Day of Service and Learning at 91短视频. It was a good partnership for many years. 

– Brian Martin Burkholder, campus pastor

Stan was not only a community activist but I would count him as a friend. He was a member of the MLK Jr. Committee and unselfishly gave of his time and talent to the students, myself and 91短视频. He conducted tours of the Harriet Tubman museum and co-lead the Barbershop Talks during the MLK Jr. Celebration. He was dedicated to and passionate about making sure that the next generation was aware of the activists from slavery through civil rights and present day that paved the way for us to have the liberties that we have in this country. He was one of the giants whose shoulders we stand upon in this struggle for Justice and Truth. To loosely quote Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., “He was definitely a drum major for change.” He will be sorely missed especially during this time of the year. He would be with us on Monday if he were still among us.

– Celeste Thomas, director of multicultural student services and senior adviser to the president for diversity and inclusion

When he moved to Harrisonburg many years ago, he expressed a need to be introduced to the Harrisonburg community. I remember taking an entire afternoon to literally drive Stan around the city of Harrisonburg telling stories, pointing out key institutions and landmarks, sharing my take on the historical, cultural, and religious dynamics of this community, etc. It was a holy moment for me and I hope it was as well for Stan.

– Professor Lonnie Yoder, Eastern Mennonite Seminary

Stan was committed to and especially active in being a bridge builder between the so-called campus and community, more broadly. He not only engaged students, but has also invited faculty and staff in various community events and initiatives as well – including the King street renaming taskforce, annual celebrations of Dr. King, and other community events. I benefited from his outreach, hospitality and bridge building within six months of my move to Harrisonburg, and know that there are others of us for whom he served as a mentor in many respects, and who have connections that predate their time in/at Harrrisonburg, 91短视频 and CJP.

– Professor Johonna Turner, co-director of the Zehr Institute for Restorative Justice

More MLK Day media coverage

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An annual and favorite tradition among the 91短视频 community is a trip to Sprague’s Barbershop in downtown Harrisonburg, where Tyrone Sprague gives haircuts along with lively conversation on the sixth floor of a Court Square building. Sunlight streamed in through lacy beige curtains as a group of 91短视频 students filed in to learn and discuss the history of racism in Harrisonburg.

“America’s original sin is that America was established as a white society,” with slavery being a key foundation of the nation, said visit facilitator Stan Maclin, vice president of the Northeast Neighborhood Association, a community group working to keep that area of Harrisonburg clean, safe, and crime-free.

In the 1950s and 60s, the northeast corner of Harrisonburg – where Rose’s and Autozone are now – was a bustling neighborhood of black culture and business. Then came Project R4. Cities across the country were given the opportunity to receive development funds for “urban renewal” projects in areas labeled as slums. Harrisonburg’s black neighborhood was declared eminent domain, residents were displaced, and their land sold to commercial developers.

Maclin cited King’s “Beyond Vietnam” address in response to structural racism such as Project R4: “I am convinced,” King wrote, “that if we are to get on the right side of the world revolution, we as a nation must undergo a radical revolution of values.”

Sprague, giving a haircut during the visit, said that he sees this “revolution of values” happening in younger generations. Across different ethnicities, “they eat together, they laugh together, they go dancing together. In the 1960s and 70s, you didn’t see that,” said Sprague, who grew up in Farmville, Virginia. Sprague remembers that his mother – and white culture – taught him to fear repercussions for looking a white woman in the eyes if he passed her on the street.

The celebration also brought visitors to the 91短视频 campus and the local community, including The Rev. Dr. Nikita Okembe-Ra Imani, a prominent poet, hip-hop artist, musician, and black history scholar from the University of Nebraska at Omaha. Speaking at Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church during a Sunday service, Imani credited King’s confidence in the face of such ingrained mistrust to his faith in God. When we see “mayhem and destruction, the kind of sickness without compassion,” said Imani, “the world is calling for the people of confidence.” King’s ideology and strategies were direct results of his pacifistic Christianity, Imani explained. “The system had tanks. The system had batons … the system had financial power. King had the Word.”

At the next day’s MLK Day chapel service, Imani called all Christians to join together. Cultures of violence, he said, are ultimately impotent before Christians, who “bring power and brotherhood where there is hatred and malevolence.”

Accompanying Imani to Bethel AME and also during the on-campus MLK Day service was the 91短视频 gospel choir and newly installed Harrisonburg mayor Chris Jones.

Jones, president of the local chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), led an afternoon community program at Lucy Simms Center (formerly Lucy Simms School, this segregated school taught area black children from 1939-1966).

The program included two songs by the MLK Celebration Choir. 91短视频 members of this community group included campus chaplain , program assistant , and , of .

Thomas co-chaired the MLK Celebration planning committee with student Christian Parks. The committee wanted to “create a celebration of the life of Martin Luther King Jr. by concentrating on who he was as a person as well as what he did for our country,” she said.

“The hope is that King’s vision and dream can inspire more dreams and more efforts,” said Parks. “In the gathered beloved community, I believe we can dream an America that truly finds the beauty in all things.”

Harding died yesterday [May 19, 2014] at the University of Pennsylvania Hospital from complications due to an aneurysm near his heart. He was 82. His death comes three months after spending of faculty, staff, students, alumni and community members at 91短视频.

At 91短视频, Harding and his wife Aljosie spoke of looking forward to having a writing sabbatical (he hoped to make progress on an autobiography) at Pendle Hill, a tranquil Quaker retreat center beside Swarthmore College outside Philadelphia. While at Pendle Hill, Harding developed the heart problems that caused him to spend his last 10 days in the hospital.

Harding was a direct influence on , Distinguished Professor of at 91短视频 and co-director of the . In an published by 91短视频 soon after Harding’s February visit, Zehr recalled in the 1960s “sitting at the dining room table with him as he patiently helped a na?ve white boy understand racial injustice in this country.” Zehr subsequently enrolled in Morehouse College in Atlanta (MLK’s alma mater) and became its first white graduate in 1966. From then on, Zehr focused on addressing social injustices, eventually becoming known as the “grandfather of restorative justice.”

This is just one example of the tens of thousands of people directly influenced by Harding – millions of people, if one considers the impact of the speeches that Harding wrote for MLK. Harding drafted the famous and highly controversial speech called “,” delivered by King in New York City on April 4, 1967, exactly one year to the day before his assassination.

Harding was an ordained Mennonite pastor during the era when he and his late wife, Rosemarie, were active in the civil rights movement alongside King and his wife, Coretta.

Harding never stopped struggling on behalf of oppressed peoples. Two years ago, for example, he and Aljosie met with nonviolent Palestinian freedom-struggle activists in the occupied West Bank.

Hear Harding speak at 91短视频 and learn more about his writings by clicking .

Harding also knew that 91短视频 was the first historically white colleges in Virginia to admit African-American students and one of the first in the South. But those students couldn’t go into most restaurants in Harrisonburg and their parents couldn’t stay in local hotels when they came to visit their children.

Now 82, Harding is coming back to 91短视频. He is the speaker for the second annual. His topic: “Is America Possible?” He will also speak at the university chapel service earlier that day at 10 a.m. in Lehman Auditorium and at the seminary chapel the next day at 11 a.m. in Martin Chapel.

Harding was a close friend of Martin Luther King Jr. for the last 10 years of King’s life. Harding is perhaps best known as the person who drafted King’s powerful (and controversial)? speech, in which King announced his opposition to the Vietnam War and criticized the destructive, unfair impact of U.S. economic, political and social policies, both domestically and abroad. King delivered the speech on April 4, 1967, before a group of anti-war opinion leaders at Riverside Church in New York City.

After King’s assassination exactly a year later, Harding became the first director of the . Later he was the senior academic advisor for the PBS television series on the civil rights movement titled “Eyes on the Prize.” In a 2008 interview with Democracy Now, Harding said that King toward the end of his life “was calling us to a way that was very difficult, a way beyond racism, a way beyond materialism and a way beyond militarism.”

Harding founded the Veterans of Hope Project, which continues to collect the stories of people who dedicated their lives to social change. The project is based at Iliff School of Theology in Denver, where he was a professor of religion and social transformation for 23 years until his retirement in 2004.

He says his current work is focused on encouraging America to become “we the people” and to create a “more perfect union” as well as participate in the making of a more just and compassionate world. His most recent book, published in 2013, is America Will Be! It is a volume of conversations on hope, freedom, and democracy between Harding and longtime Buddhist leader Daisaku Ikeda.

Harding’s other books include There Is a River – The Black Struggle for Freedom in America; Martin Luther King – The Inconvenient Hero; and Hope and History – Why We Must Share the Story of the Movement.

A native of New York City, Harding graduated in history from City College of New York in 1952, then earned a master’s degree in journalism from Columbia University in 1953, before serving two years in the U.S. Army. In 1956 he earned a master’s degree in history from the University of Chicago, followed by a doctorate in history from Chicago in 1965.

In the mid-1950s he learned about the Anabaptist/Mennonite movement of the Protestant Reformation. From 1958 to 1961, Harding was the co-pastor of Woodlawn Mennonite Church in Chicago. He often challenged Mennonites to live up to, and stand up for, their ideals about sisterhood and brotherhood socially and politically. At a conference on Mennonites and Race in Chicago in 1959, Harding met his future wife, Rosemarie Freeney. She was a 1955 sociology graduate of a Mennonite college, Goshen in Indiana, and a member of , where she worked in social services.

Vincent and Rosemarie married in 1960 and, in 1961, settled in Atlanta, Georgia, where they founded the South’s first interracial voluntary service center, Mennonite House, under the auspices of . The center, which was also their home (a block from Martin Luther King’s home), was an important gathering place for movement activists who found respite, hospitality, encouragement and stimulating dialogue. (Just before Rosemarie died from complications of diabetes in 2004, she noted that she had remained a member of Bethel Mennonite Church over her adult life.)

During Vincent’s first visit to 91短视频 – and subsequent visits over the years – “he shocked and offended some members of the community, but inspired and energized others,” says 91短视频 professor . Among the inspired were two 91短视频 professors, John Lapp and Samuel Horst, who helped start a committee that pushed for – and won – integration of the public schools in Harrisonburg.

The Keim History Lecture Series are named for the late Albert Keim, a member of the 91短视频 faculty from 1965 to 2000. For seven of those years he was academic dean. Keim was a popular history professor, and his courses included African-American History.

Addressing a well-filled Lehman Auditorium on Jan. 17, professor traced 91短视频’s history from the early 1940s and the first admission of black students, through the 1960s, when visiting black Mennonite activists challenged the white Mennonite community to raise their voices against racial inequality.

Before an even larger crowd on Jan. 20, professor (an expert on history and mission) spoke of the impact of King on the nation – indeed the world – but stressed that “we’ve domesticated him,” making him “palatable to our own image, our own dreams,” rather than responding to his call to address the “structural issues behind poverty.”

Both speakers shared a common theme: the dangers of adulation.

King’s posthumous transformation from man to superhero is “dangerous,” Sawin said, because such moral leaders are not “giants,” but regular people “who stumbled and wandered and worried as they strove to make a better world.”

“Take the first step”

Instead of comparing ourselves to King’s outsized image and yielding to feelings of fear and inadequacy, Sawin suggested following the example of King and those in the Eastern Mennonite community who struggled for integration: “Take the first step in faith,” Sawin said, quoting King. “You don’t have to see the whole staircase. Just take the first step.”

91短视频’s predecessor, Eastern Mennonite College, took its first steps toward desegregation, in defiance of local and state law, in the late 1940s. This change was not without controversy within the Mennonite community: though EMC became the first historically white college in Virginia to reverse its racial policy and accept a black student in 1948, the did not lift its strictures on integrated worship, including shared communion, foot-washing, and the kiss of brotherhood, until 1955.

Facing social, financial and academic obstacles (including overt and covert racism), the first six black students did not stay to complete their degrees, based on Sawin’s search of EMC records. Local resident Peggy Webb was urged to head to for her first two years of college, before 91短视频 belatedly let her enroll in 1950-51 and earn a degree in 1954. Her tenacity was surely influenced by her mother, Roberta Webb, a teacher and member of Broad Street Mennonite Church, who was a strong advocate of racial equality.

By the mid-1950s and 1960s, a handful of Mennonites – some from Eastern Mennonite, including Titus W. Bender ’57 – were active in the civil rights movement. (Bender, a professor emeritus who resides in Harrisonburg, spoke during chapel earlier in the week of his experiences as a pastor in the 1960s working on racial reconciliation efforts in Mississippi.) But while Mennonites were strong critics of the Vietnam War, their silence on civil rights eventually prompted King to level criticism. “Where have you Mennonites been?” he asked one church leader.

Prodded into action by the Hardings

The EMC community was eventually prompted into further action by African-American Mennonite activists Vincent and Rosemarie Harding (Vincent will speak on campus in February). During two visits to EMC in 1962 and 1963, the couple concluded that most white Mennonites were not aware of the effects of segregation. They challenged those who were aware to set aside their strict non-resistance practices to advocate for racial equality. In response, two professors formed an integrated committee that became largely responsible for the desegregation of Harrisonburg’s schools and hotels. Other Mennonite efforts followed, including attention to the subject by the official, and very popular, radio program of the Mennonite Church, “The Mennonite Hour.”

In his Monday chapel talk, Evans brought the discussion into the present by elaborating on Sawin’s suggestion that King’s image has been burnished, the jagged edges smoothed by the passage of time and the nation’s collective memory. King has been heavily memorialized – in the names of streets, schools and community centers; with larger-than-life statues; and in simplistic lessons for schoolchildren, said Evans. King is one of three Americans to be honored with a federal holiday. But these symbolic gestures have made him “less than the revolutionary he was.”

“By domesticating him, we’ve made him too big to imitate and perhaps too nice to matter,” Evans said. “Too many of us forget that though, today, King is revered, yesterday he was reviled.”

Motivated by divine discontent

Considered a Communist and an agitator, King was critical of white supremacy, economic exploitation, racial oppression, and worldwide violence. Though he advocated non-violence and passive resistance, King confronted white America with “anger, discontent, and maladjustment”– all qualities that Evans pointed out are removed from today’s popular image of King.

The collective memory of our nation has forever linked King to his famous “I Have a Dream” speech delivered in August 1963 at the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom. Yet the qualities required to be a dreamer, Evans said, are those of the perpetually dissatisfied, what King himself described as the “divine discontent.” These qualities made King a towering force of energy, charisma and inspiration, but they also made him dangerous – and eventually led to his death.

To best honor King, Evans said, see him as who he was: as the revolutionary thinker expressing the anger of moral outrage, as a man of normal stature rather than the moral giant, as a culpable human with faults and excesses, and as the perpetual dreamer unsatisfied with the inequities of the world.

And to best honor King, “do not let the memory of a giant King comfort us more than the history of this small man. We can’t be content with the domestication of MLK or what he stood for. Be maladjusted. Be divinely discontented” about social and economic inequalities here in our own community, Evans said. “For if we are truly to walk in the way of Martin Luther King Jr., the missionary, we must be willing to walk as he walked.”

For more information about the history of African Americans at 91短视频, see these stories and podcast:

Much pain, one big gain, from being an African American student at 91短视频 in 1962-63

“Take the First Step in Faith: A History of Inclusion at 91短视频” – podcast featuring Mark Metzler Sawin

As you read Preston Knight’s excellent report on the naming of a major downtown street as Martin Luther King Jr. – republished here by permission of the Daily News Record – you may be interested to know that 91短视频 participated in that effort, with its campus pastor, , serving on the task force that successfully urged Harrisonburg’s city council to rename Cantrell Avenue after Martin Luther King Jr. The leader in this renaming effort, Stan Maclin, got to know Burkholder during 91短视频’s January 2013 cross-city activities of “service and learning” in honor of MLK. Maclin then invited Burkholder to join him on the task force. Now another 91短视频 staffer, Amy Knorr of the , has joined Maclin and Burkholder for ongoing work at racial justice and reconciliation in a group called the MLK Jr. Way Coalition. Remarks by at the dedication of Martin Luther King Jr. Way follow Knight’s report.

* * * *

Stan Maclin, while urging Harrisonburg officials last year to name a street after Martin Luther King Jr., said the “eyes of the nation” were on the Friendly City.

It may felt like hyperbole, but then Cantrell Avenue was renamed to “Martin Luther King, Jr. Way” and the letters of support began pouring in. They came from mayors in Baltimore and Memphis, from James Madison University graduates living elsewhere and from churches in the Shenandoah Valley.

U.S. Sens. Tim Kaine and Mark Warner, both Virginia Democrats, also gave their written support, and The Associated Press made mention of the renaming in a recent story.

So, Maclin was right then. For several hundred people who heard him speak at an official renaming ceremony Monday, they hope the city resident also is right about the significance of the event.

“It’s humbling to know that this is not the end,” Maclin said at JMU’s Memorial Hall. “This is by no means closure. This is much, much more than a [street]. It’s the building of … making this one of the best cities in the United States of America.”

The city and a group of residents, called the Martin Luther King Jr. Coalition, hosted the ceremony, fittingly on Martin Luther King Jr. Day. Several speakers highlighted the need to follow “King’s way” of living, and not just the avenue formerly known as Cantrell.

“We can achieve more and have a better life if we value each other and if we work together,” JMU President Jonathan Alger said.

Cantrell officially assumed its new name on Jan. 1. City Council approved the change in August, about six months after Maclin proposed honoring the slain civil rights leader in Harrisonburg.

A “people’s inspired movement” should get credit for effecting change, he said Monday.

“This city is unique and it has something other cities across this country do not have, and that is such a vast array of diversity,” Maclin said.

Councilman Charles Chenault, 61, a lifelong Harrisonburg resident, said the name change was but a “down payment” on giving back to those who faced discrimination, particularly elders of Newtown, the city’s Northeast neighborhood and an early settlement for freed slaves.

That group, he said, includes Doris Allen, 87, a 1945 graduate of what’s now the Lucy F. Simms Continuing Education Center. Although she didn’t mention it while speaking to the crowd on Monday, she has previously talked about living at a time when black women entered Harrisonburg drugstores, the theater and the hospital from the back of the building.

A year ago today, which was Martin Luther King Jr. Day in 2013, Allen was celebrating President Barack Obama’s inauguration to a second term as the nation’s first black president.

“We may still have a long way to go, but we’ve come a long, long way,” she said last year.

The street renaming would seem to bring Harrisonburg and, as Maclin correctly stated, the nation along even further.

“It’s not an occasion for bragging. It’s not an occasion for lording it over other people. It’s a time for new learning and teaching,” said Fred Gibson, a city resident who befriended King while they studied at Crozer Theological Seminary near Chester, Pa. “Martin’s way is an inclusive way in which no one is left out or behind.”

* * * *

Excerpts from President Loren Swartzendruber’s remarks at the Jan. 20 ceremony:

I learned from Dr. King and others in my own theological tradition that one cannot separate one’s faith from the call to social justice for everyone in our world. As Menno Simons, for whom my church tradition is named, put it so succinctly,

True evangelical faith clothes the naked; it feeds the hungry;? it comforts the sorrowful; ?it shelters the destitute; ?it aids and consoles the sad; ?it does good to those who do it harm;? it serves those that harm it;? it prays for those who persecute it.

Here we gather in a community demonstration of solidarity all too rare in our polarized and divided society. I am proud to lead the first [historically white] university in the Commonwealth of Virginia to enroll students of color. Martin Luther King would have been pleased that my predecessors stood up to the prevailing opposition of their time to such a move. In the context of our current divisions I take great courage from Dr. King and from others who dared to stand tall in the face of conflict.

“Events throughout the week will focus on the MLK Jr. way of emphasizing issues of justice, pacifism, Christian faith, activism and service, and relationship building,” said Brian Martin Burkholder, campus pastor at 91短视频.

will join with area leaders in the renaming and dedication of Martin Luther King Jr. Way, formerly Cantrell Avenue, on Monday, Jan. 20, at noon.

Additional programs include presentations by , professor of history, and , professor of history and mission at , discussion forums and many community gatherings.

All events are free and open to the public. Those interested in attending should meet at the event location.

Wednesday, Jan. 15

10-10:30 a.m. University Chapel: “Shaped Deeply by MLK, Jr.”

In what ways was the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. formative or influential in the lives of local people? What is the impact of MLK Jr. in today’s society? For what reasons was it important for Harrisonburg to rename a significant street the Martin Luther King Jr. Way? Come hear first-person narratives from local persons who have been shaped by MLK, Jr.

Stan Maclin, director of the Harriott Tubman Cultural Center, and Titus Bender, professor emeritus, will be the panelists.

Location: Lehman Auditorium on the campus of 91短视频.

Thursday, Jan. 16

4-6 p.m. March Out and Speak Out at James Madison University (JMU)

March through the JMU campus and speak out about King’s life and legacy. This year’s theme is “His courage will not skip this generation.” Sponsored by the .

Location: Starts at the James Madison statue near Varner House and ends at Transitions, Warren Hall.

Information: Call 540-568-6636 or visit

Friday, Jan. 17

10-10:30 a.m. 91短视频 University Chapel: “Take the First Step in Faith: A History of Inclusion” by Mark Metzler Sawin, PhD.

Location: Lehman Auditorium

11:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m. Mix it Up at Lunch conversations

Choose to sit at one of the round tables with a mixture of people from the campus and community for guided conversation related to 91短视频’s racial heritage as presented in chapel. Meal passes available for participating community members and for students without a meal plan.

Coordinated by Beth Lehman, PhD, and Kathy Evans, PhD, professors in the 91短视频 education department.

Location: Northlawn cafeteria on the campus of 91短视频. and – Dining Hall located in lower level; view available visitors’ parking by clicking display option on lower left.

Sunday, Jan. 19

Worship in local congregations in the Harrisonburg Northeast Neighborhood

– at 9:15 a.m. Buses depart from 91短视频 University Commons parking lot at 10 a.m.

Location: 400 Kelley St., Harrisonburg, Va. 22802

– at 11 a.m. Buses depart from 91短视频 University Commons parking lot at 10:30 a.m.

Location: Corner of Effinger and Sterling, Harrisonburg, Va. 22802

– at 11 a.m. Buses depart 91短视频 University Commons parking lot at 10:30 a.m.

Location: 184 Kelley St., Harrisonburg, Va. 22802

– Church of God of Prophecy at 12:30 p.m. Buses depart 91短视频 University Commons parking lot at noon.

Location: 386 E Gay St., Harrisonburg, Va. 22802

3 p.m. Serving the Community Dr. King’s Way

Join the Harrisonburg and Rockingham Chapter of the NAACP for its annual Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. community program with guest speaker Pastor Warne Dawkins from Shiloh Baptist Church in Waynesboro, Va. Music by the Martin Luther King Jr. Coalition Choir. Freewill offering benefiting The Salvation Army shelter. Transportation is provided. Buses will depart 91短视频 University Commons parking lot at 2:30 p.m., and return at 5 p.m.

Location: Lucy Simms Continuing Education Center

Monday, Jan. 20

8 a.m. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Community Breakfast program

The Sigma Gamma Omega Chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority Inc. hosts “Back to Basics: Managing a Household Budget.” Continental breakfast provided. Donations accepted.

Location: Lucy Simms Continuing Education Center

10-10:40 a.m. MLK Jr. Day Chapel: “A Domesticated King” by David Evans, PhD. An after-chapel discussion forum will follow.

Location: Lehman Auditorium

12 p.m. City of Harrisonburg MLK, Jr. Way Street Renaming Dedication Program

President Swartzendruber is one of the speakers at this event hosted by the City of Harrisonburg. Transportation is provided. Buses depart from 91短视频 library circle at 11:30 a.m., and return at 1:30 p.m., for those who do not want to stay for the ribbon cutting and unity march. They will also return to pick up those who do wish to stay for ribbon cutting and march.

Location: JMU’s Memorial Hall Auditorium

1:30 p.m. Ribbon-cutting ceremony by Harrisonburg City Council followed by a unity march from Memorial Hall to Main Street and back to Memorial Hall. Hot chocolate and rest available at the .

Location: Meet outside JMU Memorial Hall

3 p.m. Adopt a Stream, Black’s Run clean-up

Join the 91短视频 and departments and club to clean up a stretch of Black’s Run that flows through the northeast neighborhood. Gloves and bags will be provided.

Location: Meet at the Science Center at 2:45 p.m. for carpooling or anytime just outside at 621 N. Main Street, Harrisonburg.

7-9 p.m. MLK Lecture by Dr. Steve Perry

Dr. Steve Perry is the 2014 Martin Luther King Jr. formal program speaker. Featured in CNN’s “Black in America” series, Perry is the founder and principal of in Hartford, Conn. Capital Prep has sent 100 percent of its predominantly low-income, minority, first generation high-school graduates to four-year colleges every year since its first class graduated in 2006.

Perry is an education contributor for CNN and MSNBC, an Essence magazine columnist, bestselling author and host of the No. 1 docudrama for TVONE, “Save My Son.”

Sponsored by the JMU Center for Multicultural Student Services.

Location: JMU Wilson Hall Auditorium

Tuesday, Jan. 21

All day – Come Across the Bridge dialogue

Engage with black community leaders, barbers and each other for lively dialogue around issues, dynamics and opportunities related to the MLK, Jr. Way at Tyrone Sprague’s downtown barbershop (6th floor of 2 South Main Street) and at the historic Blakey barbershop in the northeast neighborhood (230 Community Street). You can get a haircut too!

Hosts: Stan Maclin of the Harriet Tubman Cultural Center and Jered Lyons, 91短视频 multicultural student advisor.

Thursday, Jan. 23

8 p.m. follow-up conversation/discussion – “The Way of MLK, Jr. – What’s Next?”

Coordinated by Amy Knorr, practice coordinator for the .

Location: Common Grounds Coffeehouse on the first floor of 91短视频’s University Commons.

More info

Admission to all programs is free. For more information on activities related to MLK observances, or for a full schedule of events, visit the or call at 540-432-4115.

In a two-minute speech marking the 50th anniversary of King’s March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, Shank reminded the crowd that on April 4, 1967, King gave an address that called the U.S. government “the greatest purveyor of violence in the world today,” with specific reference to its military role in Vietnam.

Shank drew a parallel between King’s concerns for the Vietnamese to the present-day “destruction we are doing to Afghans, Iraqis, Yemenis, Somalis, Libyans and Pakistanis — and more.”

However, Shank noted that King had hope for the United States, as evinced by these words of his:

America, the richest and most powerful nation in the world, can well lead the way in this revolution of values. There is nothing except a tragic death wish to prevent us from reordering our priorities so that the pursuit of peace will take precedence over the pursuit of war. There is nothing to keep us from molding a recalcitrant status quo with bruised hands until we have fashioned it into a brotherhood. We still have a choice today: nonviolent coexistence or violent coannihilation.

Shank supplemented the King quotes with some powerful ones uttered by Robert F. Kennedy and John F. Kennedy.

Robert Kennedy, Shank said, decried “a rising level of violence” in the 1960s, tolerated by a society that makes it easy “for men of all shades of sanity to acquire whatever weapons and ammunition they desire.” Almost sounding like a pacifist, Robert added, “This much is clear: violence breeds violence, repression brings retaliation, and only a cleansing of our whole society can remove this sickness from our soul.”

In a similar vein, John F. Kennedy said in a university commencement speech: “What kind of peace do we seek? Not a Pax Americana enforced on the world by American weapons of war. I am talking about genuine peace, the kind of peace that makes life on earth worth living…”

“Too many of us think it is impossible,” JFK continued. “Too many think it unreal. But that is a dangerous, defeatist belief. It leads to the conclusion that war is inevitable – that mankind is doomed – that we are gripped by forces we cannot control. We need not accept that view. Our problems are manmade — therefore, they can be solved by man.”

. A slightly longer version of his speech, titled can be read on The Huffington Post.

Shank (undergrad class of ’96) earned his master’s degree in conflict transformation from 91短视频’s in 2005. He then completed a PhD at . He is now director of foreign policy at the in Washington D.C.

Shank is a prolific writer, whose socio-political analyses can be followed on his website, . He is a regular contributor to the?Washington Post, FOX News, US News and World Report, Financial Times, The Guardian, The Washington Times, Christian Science Monitor, Politico, Roll Call, The Hill, and The Huffington Post.?Shank frequently appears as a commentator on FOX News, CCTV News, Al Jazeera, Russia Today, Current TV, CTV News, and the Voice of America’s Pashto, Dari, Urdu and Somali services.

Shank is the son of an 91短视频 alum, Lois Shank Gerber ’66, and has two alumni-siblings: Kris Shank Zehr ’92 and Karl Shank ’93.