2021 Schedule of Events

This year we will honor the life and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr through a process of reflection and action that goes well beyond one day, or a week. We'll be working toward remembering Dr. King throughout the semester.

The Office of Multicultural Affairs & New Student & Leadership Programs invites members of the Tulane community to participate in a special reading project focused on reflection, dialogue, and action. Throughout the early part of the Spring 2021 we will be reading Caste by Isabel Wilkerson and hosting three discussion sessions throughout February and into early March. The dates selected for the discussions are relevant to the life of Dr. King as his work is referenced in Wilkerson’s book. During the sessions we will reflect on the author’s perspective and how that connects to our lived experience at various levels of society. If you would like to participate in the MLK Reading for Change Project please complete this form to reserve your free copy of the book before January 20, 2021 at 5:00 p.m. Confirmation emails will be sent to coordinate pick-up during the week of January 25, 2021. We welcome any and all staff, faculty, and students to participate.

Discussion Session Dates:

Wednesday, February 3, 2021 7:00 p.m. | Topic: Parts 1 - 2

Facilitated by: Anaya Rodgers, Dr. Paula Booke, and Dr. Samantha Francois

Thursday, February 18, 2021 7:00 p.m. | Topic: Parts 3 - 5

Facilitated by:  Jennie Bodenstein,  Jill Solomon, Cristina Lawson

Friday, March 5, 2021 7:00 p.m. | Topic: Parts 6 – 7

Facilitated by: Angelle Bradford, Beth Nazar, Dr. Jinaki Flint

About Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents

“As we go about our daily lives, caste is the wordless usher in a darkened theater, flashlight cast down in the aisles, guiding us to our assigned seats for a performance. The hierarchy of caste is not about feelings or morality. It is about power—which groups have it and which do not.”
 
In this brilliant book, Isabel Wilkerson gives us a masterful portrait of an unseen phenomenon in America as she explores, through an immersive, deeply researched narrative and stories about real people, how America today and throughout its history has been shaped by a hidden caste system, a rigid hierarchy of human rankings.
 
Beyond race, class, or other factors, there is a powerful caste system that influences people’s lives and behavior and the nation’s fate. Linking the caste systems of America, India, and Nazi Germany, Wilkerson explores eight pillars that underlie caste systems across civilizations, including divine will, bloodlines, stigma, and more. Using riveting stories about people—including Martin Luther King, Jr., baseball’s Satchel Paige, a single father and his toddler son, Wilkerson herself, and many others—she shows the ways that the insidious undertow of caste is experienced every day. She documents how the Nazis studied the racial systems in America to plan their out-cast of the Jews; she discusses why the cruel logic of caste requires that there be a bottom rung for those in the middle to measure themselves against; she writes about the surprising health costs of caste, in depression and life expectancy, and the effects of this hierarchy on our culture and politics. Finally, she points forward to ways America can move beyond the artificial and destructive separations of human divisions, toward hope in our common humanity.

Beautifully written, original, and revealing, Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents is an eye-opening story of people and history, and a reexamination of what lies under the surface of ordinary lives and of American life today.

From Barnes & Noble.com

 

 

 

MLK Celebrations in New Orleans & Beyond

Remember! Celebrate! Act! Part 1: 2021 Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr. Virtual Celebration

January 14, 2021 10:00 a.m. - 10:30 a.m. | Sponsored by New Orleans Library | Register

Celebrate Dr. King's legacy as a social justice activist and learn how you can be active in social justice today.

This innovative program will highlight Bryan Lee, founder of Colloqate Designs, Sophia Rabinovitz, artistic director of Artivism Dance, and Nicole Deggins from Sista Midwife Productions and their work as advocates for social justice, and will feature local artists Sunni Patterson, Casme, Rahim, Cassie Watson, T-Ray the Violinist, and DJ Chinua.

2021 King Holiday Observance Beloved Community Global Summit

January 14 - January 15 | Sponsored by the King Center | Register

The Beloved Community Global Summit is an opportunity for mission aligned individual organizations who are dedicated to creating the Beloved Community to come together and share ideas. Participants will hear from a myriad of national and international individuals who share their vision for a more just, humane, equitable and peaceful world.

Remember! Celebrate! Act! Part 2: 2021 Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr. Virtual Celebration

January 15, 2021 10:00 a.m. - 10:30 a.m. | Sponsored by New Orleans Library | Register

Celebrate Dr. King's legacy as a social justice activist and learn how you can be active in social justice today.

This innovative program will highlight Bryan Lee, founder of Colloqate Designs, Sophia Rabinovitz, artistic director of Artivism Dance, and Nicole Deggins from Sista Midwife Productions and their work as advocates for social justice, and will feature local artists Sunni Patterson, Casme, Rahim, Cassie Watson, T-Ray the Violinist, and DJ Chinua.

2021 King Holiday Observance Beloved Community Commemorative Service

January 18, 2020 10:30 a.m. EST /9:30 a.m. CST | Sponsored by The King Center | Register

The culminating program for the weeklong celebration of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s life and legacy is the Beloved Community Commemorative Service. The event will be live streamed on multiple platforms, including Facebook, The King Center web page, and other sources, as well as televised locally on Fox 5 Atlanta.

Ogden Museum Martin Luther King Jr. Day Celebration 2021imagining A World Without Racism

January 18, 2021 | Ogden Museum | Learn More

In honor of Martin Luther King Jr.’s life and legacy, Ogden Museum of Southern Art presents its 4th Annual FREE Martin Luther King Jr. Day Celebration on Monday, Jan. 18. Join in person or at home as we use art to imagine a world without racism! There are a variety of ways to celebrate. 

Celebrate at Home:

Pick up a FREE Ogden Museum MLK Day Celebration Art Activity Bag containing art activities exploring the life of Martin Luther King Jr. and the Civil Rights Movement, step-by-step instructions and all supplies. Get your art activity bag starting Tuesday, January 12. A limited number of art activity bags will be available for pick-up at the Museum and all 15 locations of the New Orleans Public Library while supplies last.

Explore 8 recorded programs honoring Dr. King. These recorded programs are designed for all ages and can be watched from your own home, on your own schedule. Spend the day enjoying programs ranging from dance performances to an Ogden Museum virtual tour to a guided meditation for peace – all at your own pace! Videos will be posted by 10 a.m. on Monday, January 18.

About the Martin Luther King Jr. Week for Peace

With the inception of the official holiday commemorating the life of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., the presidents of Tulane University and Xavier University of Louisiana came together to form the Martin Luther King Jr. Week for Peace. Each year we continue to honor the legacy and reflect on the work of Dr. King in meaningful and thoughtful ways. Throughout the week a series of opportunities exist for students, faculty, staff, and members of the community to engage with speakers, attend faculty lectures, participate in intergroup dialogues on social justice and civil rights issues, and volunteer in the city of New Orleans. Please check for updates on the MLK Week for Peace each spring around the first few weeks of classes. 

In their own words

“It brings students and community members together in a way that they would not normally interact and I think that is what MLK wanted. Each school pushes the other school to think more critically and look at situations from a different perspective,” Thea Celestine, Loyola Sociology student and 2014 Planning Committee Member

“We started right after the national holiday was created because we believed this holiday was not just another day off, but a “day on” to reflect, commemorate and to celebrate Dr. King’s teaching, his vision, and dream,” Carolyn Barber-Pierre, 2011 interview

 

MLK Day of Service Over The Years

2007 Cornel West: A Bold Voice for MLK Week

2008 Martin Luther King's Dream Lives On

2011 Week for Peace Events Honor Martin Luther King, Jr.

2011 Poet Discusses ‘the Dream and Diversity’

2012 The Insider: “MLK Dream Team” plans events

2013 Insider: MLK events to include day of service and discussion

2014 Students organize MLK events

2015 Michael Skolnik to give keynote speech during MLK Jr. Week for Peace

2019 Four universities, one day of service for New Orleans