Join us as we commemorate the life and legacy of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. during events planned during the last two weeks of January 2024.

Schedule:

January 18, 2024:

11:00am - The 1964 Civil Rights Act at 60:

To commemorate the 60th anniversary of Lyndon Johnson’s Civil Rights Act of 1964, a panel of experts reflect on the legacy of this historic legislation and Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King’s role in helping to pass it.

Register for In-Person

Register for Online

January 19, 2024:

5:30pm - 7:30pm - Screening of "The Space Race":

Join The School of Engineering and Applied Science for a special screening of THE SPACE RACE, with remarks after the film from Leland Melvin - UVA Alum and NASA Astronaut.

THE SPACE RACE weaves together the stories of Black astronauts seeking to break the bonds of social injustice to reach for the stars, including Guion Bluford, Ed Dwight and Charles Bolden, among many others. In THE SPACE RACE, directors Diego Hurtado de Mendoza (The Redeem Team) and Lisa Cortés (Little Richard: I Am Everything) profile the pioneering Black pilots, scientists and engineers who joined NASA to serve their country in space, even as their country failed to achieve equality for them back on Earth. From 1963, when the assassination of JFK thwarted Captain Ed Dwight’s quest to reach the moon, to 2020, when the echoes of the civil unrest sparked by the killing of George Floyd reached the International Space Station, the story of African Americans at NASA is a tale of world events colliding with the aspirations of uncommon men. The bright dreams of Afrofuturism become reality in THE SPACE RACE, turning science fiction into science fact and forever redefining what “the right stuff” looks like, giving us new heroes to celebrate and a hidden history to discover.

January 21, 2024:

5:00pm - 39th Annual Martin Luther King Jr. C'ville Community Celebration: Honoring the Dream:

The 39th Martin Luther King, Jr. Community Celebration is excited to announce its annual event. This year’s keynote speaker will be award winning author and activist, Jocelyn Nicole Johnson.

Jocelyn Nicole Johnson is the author of My Monticello, a fiction debut that was called 'a masterly feat' by the New York Times and placed third on Time Magazine's 10 best books of the year. In the wake of her debut, Johnson has spoken with groups around the country about outsider stories, social justice, and the right to read without censorship. A veteran public school art teacher, Johnson lives and writes in Charlottesville, Virginia.

The committee is accepting letters of nomination and will present the annual Martin Luther King Jr. Community Award which goes to a resident of the greater Charlottesville area who has demonstrated Dr. King’s commitment to civil rights and to improving understanding between peoples of different races and ethnic backgrounds.

The committee is also accepting letters of application from community service groups and organizations for the proceeds from the celebration offering.  The size of the grant depends upon the size of the offering.  A letter describing how the money would be used is required.

January 24, 2024:

3:00pm - Looking Back at the Harlem Renaissance:

Join Lifetime Learning and the UVA Library for a virtual tour of the current exhibition Their World As Big As They Made It: Looking Back at the Harlem Renaissance, featuring the visionary works of writers, artists, and thinkers whose creative and intellectual pursuits defined Black American identity and political consciousness. The Albert and Shirley Small Special Collections Library is fortunate to hold a wide selection of influential books, magazines, illustrations, and manuscripts from the Harlem Renaissance.

The exhibition curators—Marlon Ross, Krystal Appiah, and George Riser—will offer a look back one hundred years ago when the artistic and political revolutions of the Harlem Renaissance were in full swing. They will also offer a behind-the-scenes chronicle of their work, producing a highly visual exhibition in conversation with Black artists today.

Register Here

January 25, 2024:

6:00pm - Keynote Event: Rev. Dr. William J. Barber II, "We Are Called to Be a Movement":

Rev. William J. Barber II will deliver the 2024 Community MLK Celebration keynote address on January 25, 2024.

This event is free and open to the public. Tickets are available via the Paramount Theater website here.

Biography:

The Rev. Dr. William J. Barber II is President and Senior Lecturer of Repairers of the Breach, Co-Chair of the Poor People's Campaign: A National Call For Moral Revival, Bishop with The Fellowship of Affirming Ministries, Pastor of Greenleaf Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), Goldsboro, NC, for the past 29 years, and Professor in the Practice of Public Theology and Public Policy and Founding Director of the Center for Public Theology and Public Policy at Yale Divinity School. 

He is the author of four books: We Are Called To Be A Movement; Revive Us Again: Vision and Action in Moral Organizing; The Third Reconstruction: Moral Mondays, Fusion Politics, and The Rise of a New Justice Movement; and Forward Together: A Moral Message For The Nation. 

Dr. Barber served as president of the North Carolina NAACP from 2006-2017 and on the National NAACP Board of Directors from 2008-2020. He is the architect of the Forward Together Moral Movement that gained national acclaim in 2013 with its Moral Monday protests at the North Carolina General Assembly. In 2015, he established Repairers of the Breach to train communities in moral movement building through the Moral Political Organizing Leadership Institute and Summit Trainings (MPOLIS). In 2018, he co-anchored the relaunch of the Poor People's Campaign: A National Call for Moral Revival— reviving the 1968 Poor People's Campaign organized by SCLS, under the leadership of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., worker's rights movement, women's rights movement, religious leaders, and people of all races to fight poverty in the U.S. 

A highly sought-after speaker, Rev. Dr. Barber has given keynote addresses at hundreds of national and state conferences, including the 2016 Democratic National Convention, the homily at the 59th Inaugural Prayer Service for President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris, the Vatican at Pope Francis's encyclical "Laudato Si': On Care for Our Common Home" and the Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences. In June 2018, he addressed the 5th Uni Global Union World Congress to more than 25 countries. 

Dr. Barber is regularly featured in media outlets such as MSNBC, CNN, the New York Times, Washington Post, and The Nation magazine. He was named one of 2020's BET 100 Entertainers and Innovators and one of the 2019 recipients of the North Carolina Award, the state's highest civilian honor. He is a 2018 MacArthur Foundation Genius Award recipient and a 2015 recipient of the Franklin D. Roosevelt Four Freedoms Award and the Puffin Award. 

Dr. Barber has had twelve honorary degrees conferred upon him. He earned a Bachelor's Degree from North Carolina Central University, a Master of Divinity from Duke University, and a Doctorate from Drew University with a concentration in Public Policy and Pastoral Care.

Click here for Tickets

January 31, 2024:

4:30pm - The Right to a Quality Education:

Kimberly Jenkins Robinson, who is the Martha Lubin Karsh and Bruce A. Karsh Bicentennial Professor of Law and the Director of the Education Rights Institute, will discuss how existing law and policy fails to protect access for all students to a high-quality K-12 education. She also will share insights on how a federal right to a high-quality education could establish a stronger foundation for our democracy, economy and society.

Doors open at 4:00pm.

Date: January 18, 2024 - January 31, 2024

Locations:

The Miller Center - 2201 Old Ivy Rd, Charlottesville, VA 22904.

Rice Hall - 85 Engineer's Way, Charlottesville, VA 22903.

Mount Zion First African Baptist Church - 105 Lankford Ave, Charlottesville, VA 22902.

Paramount Theater - 215 East Main Street, Charlottesville, VA 22902.

Pavilion VII - West Lawn Charlottesville, VA 22903.

Click here for More Information