Martin Luther King, Jr. Day 2021
Join us in proudly honoring the lives and legacies of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and civil rights leader, author, and activist Coretta Scott King.
Join the City of Boston, the Howard Thurman Center for Common Ground at Boston University, and New England Conservatory in proudly honoring the lives and legacies of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and civil rights leader, author, and activist Coretta Scott King.
This annual event has adapted this year to a virtual format with public health and safety guidelines in mind. We invite you to view the full program, featuring live and pre-recorded content, which will be aired live on the City of Boston TV channel (Xfinity: channel 24, RCN: channel 13, and Fios: channel 962) and via livestream on Boston.gov and Boston University's website.
About the event
FEATURED SPEAKERS:
Eddie S. Glaude Jr. is the James S. McDonnell Distinguished University Professor and chair of the Department of African American Studies at Princeton University. In a year when many are reading James Baldwin’s essays, Dr. Glaude helps us to understand Baldwin’s excursion to understand racism in Begin Again: James Baldwin’s America and Its Urgent Lessons for Our Own.
Ibram X. Kendi is a bestselling author, the Andrew W. Mellon Professor in the Humanities at Boston University, and the founding director of the BU Center for Antiracist Research. Professor Kendi is a contributing writer at The Atlantic and a CBS News correspondent. He is also the 2020-2021 Frances B. Cashin Fellow at the Radcliffe Institute for the Advanced Study at Harvard University.
READINGS:
Selections from Baldwin’s essays and introduction of speakers will be done by graduates of Boston Public Schools now attending Boston University and New England Conservatory, including NEC's David Norville.
ADDITIONAL SPEAKERS:
- Karen Holmes Ward, Director of Public Affairs and Community Services at WCVB and host/executive producer of CityLine
- Karilyn Crockett, Chief of Equity, City of Boston
- Martin J. Walsh, Mayor, City of Boston
- Andrea Kalyn, President, New England Conservatory
- Katherine Kennedy, Director, Boston University Howard Thurman Center for Common Ground
- Jean Morrison, Provost and Chief Academic Officer, Boston University
- Dr. Robert A. Brown, President Boston University
MUSIC:
- "Come Sunday" – Duke Ellington | performed by NEC's Naledi Masilo '22 (voice), Eden MacAdam-Somer (violin), and Hankus Netsky (piano)
- "Delights and Dances" – Michael Abels | performed by NEC Philharmonia; Hugh Wolff, conductor
- "Striving for God" – Undine Smith | performed by NEC Chamber Singers; Erica Washburn, conductor
- "Unity Medley" | performed by Boston University's Inner Strength Gospel Choir
- "Summerland" – William Grant-Still | performed by Isabel Garita-Chin (violin) and Lorena Tecu (piano)