Celebrating the Life & Legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
2023 Schedule of Events
MLK Cultural Immersion Event
FANNIE: The Music and Life of Fannie Lou Hamer
Sunday, January 15, 2023
2:00 p.m.
Monday, January 16, 2023
4:00 p.m.
The August Wilson African American Cultural Center
This powerful performance celebrates the indomitable courage of civil rights hero Fannie Lou Hamer—a leader in the struggle for voting rights whose activism was infused with spirituals, protest songs, and the conviction that nobody’s free until everybody’s free. Inspired by her life story and filled with her music, FANNIE is a hopeful rallying cry that honors the spirit of a true revolutionary.
Tickets are limited to one per person. The Center will confirm tickets with all attendees.
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Community Birthday Celebration
Tuesday, January 17, 202312:30 - 1:30 p.m.
Various Locations Across Campus: Cohon University Center, Mellon Institute, Tepper Quad, CFA Building, ANSYS Hall, Baker Hall, Hamburg Hall, Gates/Hillman Centers
In honor of Dr. Martin Luther King’s birthday, the Office of the Vice Provost of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion and the Center for Student Diversity & Inclusion invite the entire campus community to join us for a special birthday celebration. Stop by a convenient campus location to celebrate the life of Dr. King with us by participating in a small service project and having a sweet treat in his honor.
Registration is not required.
MLK Cultural Immersion Event
Poetry Unplugged
Friday, January 20, 2023
8:00 p.m.
The August Wilson African American Cultural Center
Poetry Unplugged presents Shock Value and will return to the mainstage for a night of spoken word and music. Poetry Unplugged: Shock Value will celebrate MLK with an evening filled with Award-winning spoken word artists hosted by Orlando Watson. Our featured poets are Malcolm-Jamal Warner, Danny Simmons (ft. Dwayne Dolphin), Rich Medina, Taalam Acey, Barbara Trawick, Just C.O.S., and more.
Stay for the after party featuring music provided by the world-renowned Rich Medina at 10:30 pm!
This event includes adult language and themes. Viewer discretion is advised.
Tickets are limited to one per person. The Center will confirm tickets with all attendees.
Pittsburgh Racial Justice Summit
Friday, January 20 and Saturday, January 21, 2023
Pittsburgh Theological Seminary
The Pittsburgh Racial Justice Summit is a one-and-a-half-day conference dedicated to providing resources and spaces for community dialogues, sharing strategies and experiences of organizing for racial justice, healing from racial trauma, and providing connections to social support services for all attendees.
The Center will be sponsoring registration to the summit for CMU students, faculty or staff interested in participating.
Special notification: If you are a Pittsburgh youth involved in any CMU based initiatives we will also support your participation in this community event.
Sign up to receive the code for CMU-sponsored registration for PRJS.
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Keynote Lecture featuring Majora Carter
Wednesday, January 25, 2023
5:00 p.m.
Rangos Ballroom, Cohon University Center
Majora Carter is a real estate developer, urban revitalization strategy consultant, MacArthur Fellow and Peabody Award-winning broadcaster. She is responsible for the creation of numerous economic development, technology inclusion and green-infrastructure projects, policies and job training and placement systems. Ms. Carter is quoted on the walls of the Smithsonian Museum of African-American History and Culture: "Nobody should have to move out of their neighborhood to live in a better one” — which is also the subtitle of her 2022 book, “Reclaiming Your Community.” To learn more about Majora Carter, visit her website.
MLK Interfaith Breakfast
Friday, January 27, 20238:30 a.m. Breakfast, 9 a.m. Program
Rangos Ballroom, Cohon University Center
Every year, members of the Carnegie Mellon community are invited to an informal breakfast with campus and community interfaith leaders, followed by fellowship and conversation about the life and legacy of Dr. King through the lens of faith, activism, and social justice.
MLK Cultural Immersion Event
Step Afrika!
Wednesday, February 1, 20237:00 p.m.
Byham Theater
Founded in 1994 by C. Brian Williams, Step Afrika! is the first professional company dedicated to the tradition of stepping—a polyrhythmic, percussive dance form that uses the body as an instrument. Under Mr. Williams’ leadership, stepping has evolved into one of America’s cultural exports, touring more than 50 countries across the globe.
Request your Center-sponsored tickets. Tickets are limited to one per person. The Center will confirm tickets with all attendees.
Diversity & The Future of Admissions
Thursday, February 2, 20234:00 - 5:00 p.m.
Zoom
The Center invites you to our next Diversity & Inclusion Network (DIN) Meeting on Thursday, February 2 from 4:00 - 5:00 p.m. We are pleased to have Michael Steidel Dean of Admission, Greg Edleman Associate Dean/Director of Admission and Miguel Alvarez Senior Associate Director of Admission/Tartan Scholars Recruitment and Enrollment Manager join us for "Diversity & the Future of Admissions", a presentation and conversation about the College Board's Landscape tool. Carnegie Mellon Undergraduate Admission has been piloting Landscape, which provides consistent and systematic information about neighborhood and high school context for consideration in the admission process. In light of the Supreme Court Harvard and UNC cases, join us to learn more about this tool and a conversation around Carnegie Mellon's admission process.
This meeting will be virtual only.
MLK Book Reading with Lunch Discussions
Tuesday, February 7, 202312:00 p.m.
Location to be announced.
Join the Center for our first MLK Book Reading. In February we’ll be reading Black Futures Summit featured speaker Harold Green III’s book of poetry “Black Roses” and hosting a discussion over lunch.
Beginning Tuesday, January 17 a limited number of copies of each book will be made available for campus community members to read and commit to participate in a featured lunch dialogue. To receive a copy of the book, please RSVP.
Black Futures Summit Featured Speaker “An Evening with Harold Green”
Wednesday, February 8, 20235:30 p.m.
UPDATED LOCATION: Simmons A, Tepper Quad
Harold Green is an ever-evolving artist whose vibrant storytelling and passionate, lyrical delivery captivates audiences domestically and internationally. Using poetry as his central art form, Green is a highly sought-after speaker, bandleader, and event producer.
Q&A and dessert reception to follow.
CAUSE Lecture with Dr. Destin Jenkins
The Bonds of Inequality: Debt and the Urban African American Experience
Friday, February 10, 2023Reception at 3:30 p.m, Lecture at 4:30 p.m.
Danforth Conference Room, Cohon University Center
Dr. Destin Jenkins is a historian of democracy and capitalism in post-Reconstruction America. He is currently an assistant professor of history at Stanford University. He is the author of The Bonds of Inequality: Debt and the Making of the American City (The University of Chicago).
CAUSE Lecture with Dr. Ashley D. Farmer
Somebody has to Pay: Queen Mother Audley Moore and the Modern Reparations Movement
Friday, February 24, 20233:30 p.m. - 4:30 p.m. Reception, 4:30 - 6:00 p.m. Speaker Presentation
Danforth Conference Room, Cohon University Center
Dr. Ashley D. Farmer is a historian of black women's history, intellectual history, and radical politics. She is currently an Associate Professor in the Departments of History and African and African Diaspora Studies at the University of Texas at Austin. She is the author of Remaking Black Power: How Black Women Transformed an Era and a co-editor of New Perspectives on the Black Intellectual Tradition. Farmer's scholarship has appeared in numerous venues including The Black Scholar and The Journal of African American History. Her research has also been featured in several popular outlets including Vibe, NPR, The Chronicle Review, and The Washington Post. Her current book project is Queen Mother Audley Moore: Mother of Black Nationalism.
MLK Book Reading with Lunch Discussions
Thursday, March 2, 202312:00 p.m.
Location to be announced.
Join the Center for our second MLK Book Reading. In March we’ll be reading “Year of the Tiger: An Activist’s Life” by Alice Wong and hosting a discussion over lunch.
Beginning Tuesday, January 17 a limited number of copies of each book will be made available for campus community members to read and commit to participate in a featured lunch dialogue. To receive a copy of the book, please RSVP.
Please register for the reading discussion.MLK Cultural Immersion Event
Black Violin Experience Tour
Sunday, March 12, 20237:00 p.m.
Byham Theater
Classical music meets hip-hop in the groundbreaking duo Black Violin and their Classical Boom Tour, an outing that blurs the lines between genre, race, and gender with its unique fusion of groove and strings. The outfit features Will Baptiste on viola and Kev Marcus on violin.
Request your Center-sponsored tickets. Tickets are limited to one per person. The Center will confirm tickets with all attendees.
MLK Book Reading with Lunch Discussions
Sponsored in collaboration with The Center for Shared Prosperity
Thursday, April 6, 202312:00 p.m.
Location to be announced.
Join the Center for our final MLK Book Reading of the semester. In April we’ll be reading “Winners Take All: The Elite Charade of Changing the World” by Anand Giridharadas and hosting a discussion over lunch.
Beginning Tuesday, January 17 a limited number of copies of each book will be made available for campus community members to read and commit to participate in a featured lunch dialogue. To receive a copy of the book, please RSVP.
Please register for the reading discussion.
2023 Selected Readings
February 2023 Selected Reading
Black Roses by Harold Green III
March 2023 Selected Reading
Year of the Tiger: An Activist's Life by Alice Wong
"Drawing on a collection of original essays, previously published work, conversations, graphics, photos, commissioned art by disabled and Asian American artists, and more, Alice uses her unique talent to share an impressionistic scrapbook of her life as an Asian American disabled activist, community organizer, media maker, and dreamer. From her love of food and pop culture to her unwavering commitment to dismantling systemic ableism, Alice shares her thoughts on creativity, access, power, care, the pandemic, mortality, and the future. As a self-described disabled oracle, Alice traces her origins, tells her story, and creates a space for disabled people to be in conversation with one another and the world."
April 2023 Selected Reading
Winners Take All: The Elite Charade of Changing the Wolrd by Anand Giridharadas
"Anand Giridharadas takes us into the inner sanctums of a new gilded age, where the rich and powerful fight for equality and justice any way they can—except ways that threaten the social order and their position atop it. They rebrand themselves as saviors of the poor; they lavishly reward “thought leaders” who redefine “change” in ways that preserve the status quo; and they constantly seek to do more good, but never less harm."