The University Record, January 14, 1997
Martin Luther King Jr. Day features music, lectures, events
Gospel singer Kelli Williams (below) and the Clark Sisters (right) will begin the 1997 Martin Luther King Jr. Day celebration with music at 8 p.m. Sun. (Jan. 19) in the Power Center. They replace CeCe Winans, who cancelled her performance for health reasons.
By Bernie DeGroat
News and Information Services
The University will commemorate Martin Luther King Day Jan. 20 with nearly 100 events beginning this week and running through February, including lectures by Mary Frances Berry, Julian Bond, Manning Marable and Martin Luther King III.
King, who will speak at noon Jan. 21 at the Alumni Center and later that day at 7 p.m. in Rackham Auditorium, will draw on his personal experience and his father’s legacy to discuss the role of activism today. 
The MLK Symposium celebration officially kicks off with a free concert featuring 18-year-old gospel singer Kelli Williams and the award-winning Clark Sisters at 8 p.m. Jan. 19 in the Power Center. CeCe Winans, originally scheduled to perform at this time, cancelled due to health reasons. All previously distributed tickets will be honored. Tickets are available at the Michigan Union box office.
U-M alumna Mary Frances Berry, chair of the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, will launch MLK Day festivities at 10:30 a.m. Jan. 20 in Hill Auditorium. Her lecture is followed by the Black Student Union’s MLK Unity March at noon, which begins at the corner of South University Avenue and Forest Street.
At 1 p.m., volunteers will take part in “Acting on the Dream,” an afternoon of community service at dozens of local and Detroit-area community-based agencies. Call Project SERVE, 936-2437, to sign up.
The MLK holiday continues with a panel discussion on “Affirmative Action in the Academy: Safeguarding the Gains Made” at 3:15 p.m. in Room 100 of the Law School’s Hutchins Hall, and closes with a musical performance by the Sounds of Blackness at 8 p.m. at Hill Auditorium. Concert tickets, $12 and $26, are available at the University Musical Society box office.
The “Campaign for a Unified Community of Justice,” the theme of this year’s MLK Symposium, also will feature a panel discussion on “Activism in Backlash Times” at 3 p.m. Jan. 21 in Auditorium B, Angell Hall; a lecture by renowned scholar and political commentator Manning Marable at 3 p.m. Jan. 22 at the Michigan League’s Mendelssohn Theater; a panel discussion on “Peaceful Resolution of Conflict in the Global Village” at 4 p.m. Jan. 23 in Auditorium A, Angell Hall; and a talk by Native American activist Dennis Banks, co-founder of the American Indian Movement, at 5:30 p.m Jan. 28 at the Mendelssohn Theater.
In addition to Symposium activities, unit-sponsored events include a talk by CNN political analyst and author Farai Chideya at 1 p.m. Jan. 20 in the Michigan Union Ballroom; a lecture by distinguished scholar and civil rights activist Julian Bond at 1:30 p.m. Jan. 20 in the Business School’s Hale Auditorium; a dramatic presentation by actor and Rev. Clifton Davis at 3:30 p.m. Jan. 20 at the Power Center; and two talks by former U.S. Surgeon General Antonia Coello Novello—noon Jan. 23 in the Alumni Center and 5 p.m. Jan. 23 in the Thomas Francis Jr. Building (School of Public Health II).
For more information, contact MLK Symposium program coordinator Tara Young, Office of Academic Multicultural Initiatives, at 936-1055 or [email protected].
The following events have been changed from the schedule that appeared in the January 7 issue of the Record:
The WUOM program on de facto segregation in Michigan scheduled for Jan. 20 will be broadcast at 1 p.m. Jan. 22.
CeCe Winans’ 8 p.m. Jan. 19 concert has been cancelled. Kelli Williams and the Clark Sisters will perform at the same time in the Power Center. All previously distributed tickets will be honored.
Farai Chideya’s Jan. 20 talk will take place at 1 p.m. instead of 2 p.m.
