This year’s local Martin Luther King Remembrance Celebration will be a virtual online event running from noon to 8 p.m. on Monday (Jan. 18).
It will be live-streamed on Perigon and Facebook Live and will culminate at 7 p.m. with a musical tribute to the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. featuring music and spoken word pieces from local artists.
Registration for this event on Perigon can be completed at https://www.pablocenter.org. On Facebook Live, the day’s programming can be viewed at https://www.facebook.com/KingRemembrance.
Portions of this event, including the 7 p.m. musical tribute, will be broadcast locally on Converge Radio, 101.9 FM. Others collaborating on this year’s event include Uniting Bridges, Pablo Center at the Confluence, UW- Eau Claire, UW-Stout, Chippewa Valley Technical College and the cities of Eau Claire and Altoona.
“This event will bring area residents together to celebrate their commitment toward a more united community enriched by its diversity,” according to UW-EC History Prof. Selika Ducksworth-Lawton, president of Uniting Bridges and organizer of the event.
She will moderate the 5 p.m. discussion of the “ABCs of Racism,” featuring three UW-EC faculty and staff members. They are Prof. Roderick Jones, Special Education and Inclusive Practices; Prof. Debra Barker, director of the American Indian Studies program; and Dang Yang, director of the Office of Multicultural Affairs.
Other programs on Monday’s schedule include a 12:15 p.m. discussion of how the Chippewa Valley history of the Ku Klux Klan affects today’s area residents; a 2 p.m. panel on “Race and Religion; and a 3:45 p.m. discussion of “Race, Civility and the First Amendment.” At 1 p.m., UW-EC History Prof. Patricia Turner will discuss “Antisemitism and Racism.”
The day’s observance will begin at noon with a welcome and the reading of King’s “Letter from Birmingham Jail.”
The Pablo Center at the Confluence will present an all-day art exhibit that opens at noon and explores issues of racism and intolerance with a focus on the black experience in America. Further information is available on the King Remembrance Program for Eau Claire WI Facebook page or from Ducksworth-Lawton at 715-836-4886 or duckswsm@uwec.edu.
Uniting Bridges is a nonprofit organization that advocates on behalf of under-represented groups in the Chippewa Valley.