Inaugurating Change: Where Do We Go From Here?
Martin Luther King Jr. Day is an intense, community-wide opportunity to discuss, teach, and reflect on King’s legacy. The day is a time to examine contemporary human issues through the lens of King’s work and ideas, broadly defined. It is a day of thought, reflection, and aspiration for the entire community. This year’s theme Inaugurating Change: Where Do We Go From Here? is in response to the historic election of our 44th president in addition to pressing issues such as our economy, health care, climate change and equal rights for all.
2009 Martin Luther King Jr. Day Schedule at Bates College
Sunday, Jan. 18
7 p.m.
Service: Annual Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Service of Worship. Melissa Harris-Lacewell, associate professor of politics and African American Studies at Princeton University, delivers the evening’s sermon, “Time to Believe: Lessons from Edwina.” Music by Bates students, including solos by sophomore vocalist Megan Guynes of Rancho Cucamonga, Calif., and a “sound collage” of political rhetoric developed by Assistant Professor of Music Dale Chapman. A reception follows in Olin Arts Center Lobby.
Olin Arts Center Concert Hall
Monday, Jan. 19 Martin Luther King Jr. Day
In observance of Martin Luther King Jr. Day, classes are canceled and special programming takes place throughout the day. This year’s King Day theme at Bates is “Inaugurating Change: Where Do We Go From Here?” For more information, call 207-786-6400.
9 a.m.
Reception: Meet the students from Morehouse and Bates colleges and local high schools who will take part in the morning’s debate.
Benjamin Mays Center
9:30 a.m.
Oratory: In “Minutes and Words of Eternity: The Dr. Benjamin Elijah Mays Speech Invitational,” members of the Morehouse and Bates debate teams will discuss the topic, “The United States should reform its system of prison and incarceration.”
Benjamin Mays Center
10:45 a.m.
Keynote Address: Delivered by Melissa Harris-Lacewell, associate professor of politics and African American Studies at Princeton University, and author of Barbershops, Bible and BET: Everyday Talk and Black Political Thought. (Princeton University Press, 2004)
Olin Arts Center Concert Hall
Noon to 5:30 p.m.
Video Installation: Video artist Craig Saddlemire, Bates Class of 2005, curates “Social Justice: Critique, Action, Change,” as part of the Bates MLK Day celebration. Presented in the Perry Atrium of Pettengill Hall, the installation encourages reflection on the legacy of King, the Civil Rights Movement and the struggle for social justice. Organized by theme, the videos will be shown throughout the afternoon on three large viewing screens in the Atrium.
Perry Atrium, Pettengill Hall
1:20 to 2:30, 2:35 to 3:50 and 4 to 5:15 p.m.
Concurrent Workshop Sessions: Students, staff, guests and faculty lead readings, presentations and discussions focused on various topics tied to the day’s theme, “Inaugurating Change: Where Do We Go From Here?” For more information about the workshops, call 207-786-6400 or see a complete listing.
Pettengill Hall and Marcy Plavin Dance Studios
7:30 p.m.
Performance: Bates students commissioned to create cultural work for Martin Luther King Day 2009 present music, theater, dance and spoken-word pieces. The evening features seniors Shawki White of Danville, Ill., hip hop/rap; and Sulo Dissanayake of Pita Kotte, Sri Lanka, dramatic performance; and Ben Smeltzer ’10 of Waterbury Center, Vt. , jazz; along with the performance of an improvisatory piece created during the day in a workshop run by the Philadelphia-based Headlong Performance Institute, a group of artists and master teachers who train students to create, improvise and perform.
Olin Arts Center Concert Hall
Thursday, Jan. 22 at 1:30 p.m. (Snow date: Friday, Jan. 23)
Annual MLK Read-In: Faculty, staff, students and members of the community will share a picture book with Martel School students in grades 4-6. Those interested in volunteering should e-mail Anne Fischer at afischer@bates.edu or call 908-642-2620.
Martel
