Chapel Hill’s Martin Luther King Jr Week Activities are Jan 15-20

by Patty Griffin | January 03 2012

Make plans to attend the weeklong Martin Luther King Jr Celebration at UNC-Chapel Hill. Numerous cooperatively planned events, coordinated by UNC’s Office of Diversity and Multicultural Affairs will take place January 15-20.

The week begins with the 27th annual University/Community Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial Banquet at the Friday Center at 6 pm on January 15 This year’s keynote speaker is Ambassabor James A. Joseph. Ambassador Joseph is Professor of the Practice of Public Policy Studies and Executive Director of the United States- Southern Africa Center for Leadership and Public Values at Duke University. Nominated by President Clinton and confirmed by the United States Senate in December 1995, he was the first and only American ambassador to present his credentials to President Nelson Mandela. Cost is $25 for a ticket. This event is sponsored by The University/Community MLK Planning Corporation and email Mycal Brickhouse.

On January 16 the Chapel Hill-Carrboro and UNC Chapel Hill chapters of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) will sponsor its annual Martin L. King, Jr. Day Rally, March and Worship Service. Meet for the rally at 9:00 am and then join our march down Franklin Street. The march will end at First Baptist Church at 106 N. Roberson Street where former NC Representative Larry Hall will speak. There will also be choir performance and a brief ceremony honoring those who have served in the military. Sponsor: NAACP Contact: Chavez Adams.

Other events include poetry, oratorical contest, film screening, candlelight vigil, speakers, panel dicussions and more. The 31st Annual Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Lecture is January 17 at 7:30 pm at Memorial Hall. Civil rights activist and statesman Andrew Young will speak. Young was an aide to King, a congressman and a U.S. ambassador to the United Nations. Young also served as the city of Atlanta’s mayor. Today he is a professor at Georgia State University’s Andrew Young School of Policy Studies. The free public program will begin with a scholarship presentation.

Those planning to attend the Jan. 17 lecture must pick up free tickets at the Memorial Hall box office (919-843-3333), open from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. weekdays. UNC students who show UNC One Cards may get two tickets per card – two cards allowed per student. Others may get two tickets per person. For more information about the lecture, call (919) 962-6962 or visit http://www.unc.edu/diversity/mlkweek.htm.

Andrew Young

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