MLK Jr. Day scheduled for Jan. 21

The Social Science Club and Diversity Committee will be sponsoring “Grassroots Rural Civil Rights” to celebrate Martin Luther King, Jr. Day on Monday, Jan. 21, in the Student Center Ballroom.

The day will begin at 9 a.m. with a presentation by Associate Professor Dr. David Nesheim titled “Bloody Lowndes: Black Power in Rural Alabama”, which will describe the development of the Freedom Party in Lowndes County, Alabama and how Stokely Carmichael developed the idea of Black Power. At 10 a.m. Associate Professor Dr. Thomas Smith will present “Rural Protest in Apartheid South Africa”, which will explain the relationship between Nelson Mandela’s African National Congress (ANC) and rural elements of South African reform movements.

“Selma”, a 2014 movie about Martin Luther King, Jr.’s march from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama, will be shown at 11 a.m. At 1:30 p.m. a walk will start at Common Cents and end at the college. The day will conclude with a student panel discussing experiences with diversity at 2 p.m.

The event is free and open to the public.