Dr. Kelisha B. Graves remembers being a young student in public school, looking forward to the third Monday of every January as a day off.
“Every King holiday is a day out of school, without intentional reflection,” said Graves. “At The King Center, we always say that the King holiday is a day on, not a day off. It’s a day of not just reflection but concrete action. You can never take a break from social justice work.”
Dr. Kelisha B. Graves, chief research, education and program officer at The Martin Luther King, Jr. Center for Nonviolent Social Change.
That activity is mirrored at institutions of higher education and educational organizations, where King’s lessons of resistance to what he called the “triple evils,” poverty, war, and racism, align with postsecondary missions.
“Higher education institutions are the engines of change in our society, premier hubs for knowledge production," said Graves. "They have an outsized role to play in terms of advancing the legacy of Dr. King and Mrs. Coretta Scott King."
King’s alma mater, Morehouse College, an all-male Historically Black College and University (HBCU) in Atlanta, GA, is hosting several events between Jan. 16 and 31, including lecture and conversation series featuring speakers of national and international importance. Journalists Toluse Olornnipa and Robert Samuels will discuss their new book, His Name is George Floyd, connecting the past with the present.
“The idea here is to engage the Morehouse community and the community beyond our borders, to engage with history as well as contemporary issues,” said Dr. Vicki L. Crawford, director of The King Collection at Morehouse, which holds over 13,000 original items that belonged to King, including speeches, sermons, and correspondence. The King Collection is an open resource for Morehouse faculty and students and is often exhibited for the public.
