MLK50 Events

MLK Speech on Display
March 26 - April 13
McWherter Library Rotunda, UofM

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. penned the words "we shall overcome," a phrase that became a rallying cry for the civil rights movement, in a 1965 speech in Chicago. That 20-page speech – which includes a page handwritten by King – was purchased by Memphis philanthropist Avron B. Fogelman and will be displayed in Mcwherter Library on the University of Memphis campus from March 26th through April 13th to mark the 50th anniversary of the civil rights leader's assassination.

Learn more about the Speech Display>

Law Symposium & Luncheon
Monday, April 2, 2018
Peabody Hotel Memphis | 149 Union Ave.

Featured Keynote Speaker: The Honorable Eric H. Holder, Jr.
82nd Attorney General of the United States (2009-2015); Partner, Covington & Burling LLP

Introductory remarks by United States Senator Doug Jones of Alabama.

The University of Memphis School of Law MLK50 Symposium is part of a two-day event presented jointly by the University of Memphis School of Law and National Civil Rights Museum.

Learn more about the Symposium - or - Register Online

Poster Sign Library
Monday-Tuesday, April 2-3, 12-2 pm
McWherter Library Rotunda, UofM
UofM Libraries

The protest sign library is inspired by the Memphis Sanitation Workers Strike protest signs and the Protest Banner Lending Library in Chicago. This ongoing event (January through April) provides the UofM community an exercise in channeling change through visual representation. From February through April, a protest sign creation station will pop up in McWherter Library's rotunda. Any UofM community member can stop by and make a sign. Books and inspiration will be at the station, as well as other students, faculty and staff to engage in conversation. You can make your sign and submit it to be displayed in McWherter Library's rotunda, or take it with you. Approved signs will be hung in the rotunda of McWherter Library on a rotating basis. Displayed signs will be returned to their owners. If you create a sign in class or on your own time, feel free to bring it in to the Research & Informational Services desk. For more information contact bvvarner@memphis.edu

MLK Speech on Display
March 26 - April 13
McWherter Library Rotunda, UofM

"At the River I Stand" - Documentary Screening & Moderated Discussion
Saturday, March 31, 2018 | 3-6 pm
Halloran Theater
College of Communication and Fine Arts

"At the River I Stand" reconstructs the two eventful months in Memphis in 1968 leading to the tragic death of Martin Luther King, Jr. and the climax of the Civil Rights Movement. Produced by three University of Memphis faculty members, the film was broadcast nationally by PBS in 1993 to commemorate the 25th anniversary of King's death. Cornell Brooks, former president & CEO of the NAACP, will introduce the award-winning film and moderate the panel discussion. For more information contact bmccoy@memphis.edu.

Learn more about the event >

Financial Literacy Panel Discussion
Tuesday, April 3, 1:00-2:25 pm
Fogelman College of Business, Room 259
Department of Finance

Join us in a discussion about how financial literacy education can serve as one tool to help bridge the economic inequality gap. As part of the MLK50 commemoration, the panel is presented in the spirit of honoring Dr. King's legacy of addressing issues regarding income inequality. The panel will provide a broad discussion of how individuals can learn finance, business, or economics as a means to not only improve their own economic status, but also as a way to become an informed citizen regarding economic development and policy, and use this knowledge to improve their communities. Panelists include: Andre Dean, President of Dean & Associates, a government relations, business and professional services consulting firm; Dr. Jeff Wallace, Research Associate Professor of Applied Economic Evaluation at the Sparks Bureau of Business and Economic Research; and David Taylor, Researcher at the Memphis Center for Economic Education (MCEE). The panel discussion will be moderated by Kelley Anderson, Instructor in the Department of Finance, Insurance, and Real Estate at the Fogelman College of Business & Economics.

RSVP required to kndrsn13@memphis.edu.

To Shape a New World
Tuesday, April 3, 2018, 4 pm
University Center River Room, UofM Campus
College of Arts and Sciences, Political Science

Professors Tommie Shelby and Brandon Terry, both from the Department of Philosophy at Harvard University, will talk about their new book To Shape a New World: Essays on the Political Philosophy of Martin Luther King, Jr. The book represents a critical engagement with King’s understudied writings on labor and welfare rights, voting rights, racism, civil disobedience, nonviolence, economic inequality, poverty, love, just-war theory, virtue ethics, political theology, imperialism, nationalism, reparations, and social justice. In King’s work, the authors find an array of compelling challenges to some of the most pressing political dilemmas of our present, and rethink the legacy of this towering figure. For more information contact jmabrnth@memphis.edu.

Student Essay Contest Reception and Reading
Tuesday, April 3, 4-6 pm
McWherter Library Rotunda, UofM
UofM Libraries

Memphis shares a unique history with the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. In honor of this rich history and the wealth of resources available at the University Libraries’, McWherter Library is hosting an essay contest. We invite interested undergraduate and graduate students to respond to one of the relevant historical photographs in our University Libraries Digital Repository (ULDR). Prize details, essay categories and rules can be found at the link below. The deadlline is Friday, February 24. For more information contact sgaines1@memphis.edu.
Learn more about the contest here >

Call for Student Poster Submissions: 6th Social Work Symposium
Deadline: Friday, April 13, 2018
Department of Social Work

Students are invited to submit posters related to the theme "Celebrating 50 years of Social Work at the University of Memphis: In the Steps of MLK." For more information contact mdlavega@memphis.edu or 901.678.3270.