Valpo Announces Eddie S. Glaude Jr., Ph.D., as Martin Luther King Jr. Celebration Convocation Speaker

Valparaiso University will continue its tradition of honoring the life and work of Martin Luther King Jr. on Jan. 21, 2019, with its 30th annual celebration, built around the theme of “What Everybody Ought to Know.”

The modern Civil Rights Movement brought the legal edifice of Jim Crow-style segregation crumbling down. But in the eyes of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. and other movement leaders, the work was far from done. Movement leaders argue that the great evils of racism, poverty and war continued to wreak havoc here in the United States and across the globe — and more than 50 years later, they still do. On Jan. 21 Valpo will engage students, faculty and staff as well as the broader Northwest Indiana community, in powerful dialogue about King’s legacy and how to further it today.

Eddie S. Glaude Jr., Ph.D., will help in that work as this year’s Convocation speaker.

Glaude is the James S. McDonnell Distinguished University Professor and chair of the African American studies department at Princeton University. A scholar who speaks to the “black and blue in America,” his most well-known books, “Democracy in Black: How Race Still Enslaves the American Soul,” and “In a Shade of Blue: Pragmatism and the Politics of Black America,” take a wide look at black communities and reveal complexities, vulnerabilities and opportunities for hope. Hope that is, in one of his favorite quotes from W.E.B. Du Bois, “not hopeless, but a bit unhopeful.” He is a columnist for Time Magazine and regularly provides commentary on radio and television news programs like “Democracy Now!,” “Morning Joe” and “The 11th Hour.”

Registration information for the 30th annual Martin Luther King Jr. Celebration, as well as a detailed schedule of events, is available at valpo.edu/mlk. If you are interested in supporting this event as a sponsor, please reach out to the MLK 2019 co-chairs, Byron Martin and Heath Carter.