When several University students travel to Washington, D.C. this weekend to participate in a protest against a possible war with Iraq, their main agenda will be President George W. Bush's current foreign policy. But, under the sponsorship of Duke's Martin Luther King, Jr. Commemoration Committee, they will also be honoring King's legacy as a "radical pacifist."
The students will live out the theme, literally, of "In The Footsteps," the title of this year's two-week celebration of King and other civil rights activists.
The celebration starts today with a discussion on King's ministry led by William Turner, associate professor of the practice at the Divinity School. This year, organizers said, an even broader range of the student body, faculty and staff is choosing to participate in commemoration events ranging from discussions, a cultural performance and an advance screening of a documentary.
"The [celebration's] theme focuses on what we can do in this community to build upon the absolute best of the prophetic Christian tradition that Martin Luther King embodied," said Divinity School Senior Associate Dean for Academic Programs Willie Jennings, chair of the MLK Commemoration Committee.
One of the celebration's highlights is a collaboration with North Carolina Central University to air an advance screening of the documentary Two Towns of Jasper the evening of Friday, Jan. 17. The documentary explores the reactions and viewpoints of the residents of Jasper, Texas, to the 1998 death of James Byrd, Jr., who was chained to a truck and dragged by three white men.
"Listening to the black and white communities of Jasper talk about the crime turned out to be a pretty startling revelation of the depth of the division that exists between the black and white Americans," said Whitney Dow, one of the documentary's directors, in a statement. Both Dow and the film's other director, Marco Williams, will hold a discussion following the screening.
For the 14th Annual Service of Celebration of Commemoration, scheduled for Sunday, Jan. 20, Harvard University Law School professor Lani Guinier will deliver the keynote address. Guinier--who gained national attention in 1993 following a controversial presidential nomination that was later rescinded--was chosen by the committee for her work on law and race that embodies the King vision. She will discuss differing views on race, racism and affirmative action.
"I hope the audience is prompted to think and question the fundamental assumptions or familiar presumptions," wrote Guinier in an e-mail, "and to become curious about what each of us might do to generate a cross-racial coalition that shares power and commits to making a genuine democracy and equality of opportunity a reality and not just an abstraction."
Several panel discussions will be held during the celebration, one of which, entitled "Globalization and War," will feature the students who protested in Washington, D.C.
The Cultural Extravaganza, an annual commemoration event, will continue this year in Page Auditorium with contributions from student groups including Dance Black, Local Color, Sapphire, United in Praise and Sabrosura, as well as several solo musical performances.
"This year is probably the largest extravaganza so far, based on the number and variety of the performances," said senior Thaniyyah Ahmad, a committee member and Duke Student Government vice president for community interaction. "We hope to get the students out, instead of sleeping in, and come join in the activities... both to enjoy themselves as well as enlighten themselves."
This year's celebration will showcase not only the favorite annual events, but also contributions from several sectors of the University that previously have not participated. The Medical Center will hold a vigil for the first time, and employees will perform a musical entitled The Country Church. The Nicholas School of the Environment and Earth Sciences will also participate for the first time.
Jennings said this is a change that embodies a goal of the committee to "create as great a reality of participation of the common life of Duke as possible."
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