King Week 2022

Emory University King Week is a series of programs offered in January by various Emory units to honor the life and legacy of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and the civil rights movement. Programs include educational lectures, spiritual services, community service projects, celebrations, and exhibits.

Update: All King Week 2022 programs are in the process of moving to virtual formats in accordance with updated Emory COVID policies.

Additional information is added below as it becomes available. For more information, please contact religiouslife@emory.edu.

Middle School and High School Debate Tournament Volunteer Judging

Atlanta Urban Debate League
Saturday, January 15 and 22, 8:00 a.m.–12:00 p.m., Virtual

The Atlanta Urban Debate League of the Center for Civic and Community Engagement will be hosting middle school and high school debate tournaments during King Week and volunteer judges are needed. The 2021–2022 debate topic focuses on policies that protect water resources and provide community access to clean water resources. No debate experience necessary—training will take place the morning of the debate tournaments. Volunteers at these events will be working with minors and will need to complete an online orientation process prior to volunteering. Please contact Christy Bradley for additional information.

To volunteer for these and other AUDL events and to access the online orientation process, visit the AUDL page on Emory OPEN. Volunteers will get information about how to access the tournament after signing up.

King Sunday Worship Service

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Walter Fluker, Speaker

Sunday, January 16, 11:00 a.m.
Zoom Recording  

Walter Fluker is Dean’s Professor for Spirituality, Ethics, and Leadership at Candler School of Theology. He previously served as Martin Luther King Jr. Professor of Ethical Leadership, editor of the Howard Thurman Papers Project, and director of the Martin Luther King Jr. Initiative for the Development of Ethical Leadership at Boston University School of Theology. Special music provided by Maury Allums, OSRL Music Director. 

Sponsored by the Emory University Office of Spiritual and Religious Life. For questions, please contact Religious Life.

Emory’s Day On [CANCELED]

Monday, January 17, 11:00 a.m.–4:30 p.m.
Sponsored by the Emory University Center for Civic and Community Engagement. Contact Johannes Kleiner for additional information.

Keynote Address

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Bobby Seale

“Fighting for Civil Rights and Economic Justice: A Conversation with the Founding Chairman of the Black Panther Party”

Tuesday, January 18, 4:00 p.m. 

Born in Texas in 1936, Bobby Seale is one of a generation of young radicals who broke away from the usually nonviolent civil rights movement to preach a doctrine of militant Black empowerment, helping to found the Black Panther Party in 1966. The group focused much of its energies on community outreach, and the California movement spawned chapters across the nation. Since 2002, Seale has worked in Oakland, California, with young political activists to spark social change. Sponsored by the Department of African American Studies and co-sponsored by the School of Law, the Departments of Political Science, Sociology, and History, Campus Life, the Office of Diversity and Inclusion, the James Weldon Johnson Institute, the Laney Graduate School, and the Hightower Fund. Free and open to the public. Email La Shanda Perryman for additional information.

Read Emory Wheel Story about the Event

King Week Dialogue: “What Is Your Life’s Blueprint?”

Tuesday, January 18, 6:00–7:30 p.m., Zoom

Participants will watch Dr. Martin Luther King’s “What Is Your Life’s Blueprint” speech and then engage in discussions about their individual aspirations and goals for social justice. Open to all members of the Emory Community. Barkley Forum for Debate, Deliberation, and Dialogue. Co-sponsored by Emory Conversation Project, All Black Emory, Nu Alpha Chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated.

Register below. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.

Panel Discussion: “Ali’s Comeback: The Untold Story”

Tuesday, January 18, 7:00 p.m.
Via Zoom

In 1970, Emory Law graduate Robert Kassel was involved in assisting a group of Atlantans working to help Muhammad Ali recover his career three years after he was stripped of his boxing title, convicted of draft evasion, threatened with imprisonment, and banned from fighting in all 50 states. Join Emory University School of Law and Dream Factory LLC for a panel discussion about the unlikely group of people wh helped The Greatest of All Time return to the boxing ring. Panelists include:

• Dr. Khalilah Ali, wife of Muhammad Ali
• Councilman Michael Julian Bond
• Bunnie Jackson-Ransom, president and CEO, firstClass, Inc.
• Art Jones, director, Ali's Comeback
• Emory alumnus Robert Kassel 62C 63L
• The Honorable Sam Massell, former Atlanta mayor
• The Honorable Andrew Young, former Atlanta mayor and Ambassador to the United Nations
• Moderated by Prof. Robert Parrish, Emory Law interim CDO

Registrants will receive a link to the movie for viewing prior to the program. Sponsored by Emory School of Law. For more information, please email Susan Clark.

Oxford College Celebration

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The Rev. Kim Jackson, Speaker

Tuesday, January 18, 7:30 p.m., Zoom

Kim Jackson is an alumna of Candler School of Theology, vicar at Church of the Common Ground, a Georgia state representative for the 41st district, and was named one of Emory’s 40 under 40 outstanding alumni. Also featured will be remarks from Oxford’s current Martin Luther King, Jr. Scholar, Hannah Bodus and Oxford Dean Douglas A. Hicks. Special music will be offered by Mr. Maury Allums, Director of Music for Emory’s Office of Spiritual and Religious Life. Free and no registration required. 

MLK Community Service Awards Ceremony

“Breaking Down Injustice: Our Voices and Our Vote”

January 20, 2022, 4:00–5:30 p.m.
Via Zoom

For over 20 years, the Rollins School of Public Health and the Goizueta Business School have honored the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. through the Martin Luther King Jr. Community Service Awards program. This year’s awards celebration is centered on MLK Jr.’s quote “Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter” and features speaker Andra Gillespie, Emory associate professor of political science and director of the James Weldon Johnson Institute. Sponsored by Sarah Blake (Rollins School of Public Health), Lynne Segall (Goizueta Business School), Sheryl Heron (School of Medicine), and Stella Clarke-Dubose (School of Nursing). Contact Sheryl Heron or Cassandra Evans for additional information.
Nominations are due by January 7, 2022. Nominees can be an Emory-affiliated or Atlanta-based individual or group.

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School of Law Annual MLK Jr. Day Lecture—“Anti-Antiracism: Fighting Backlash, Building Justice”

*New Date* Tuesday, February 22, 5:00 p.m., Virtual and in person (Tull Auditorium in Gambrell Hall, 1301 Clifton Road)

Darren Hutchinson, professor of law and inaugural John Lewis Chair for Civil Rights and Social Justice, will deliver the 2022 Emory Law Martin Luther King Jr. Day lecture. Civil rights and social justice are the central foci of Hutchinson’s research, teaching, administrative work, and community engagement. He is widely known among legal academics and scholars in other fields for the rigor of his work and his sustained commitment to analyzing and remedying inequality. For questions, please email Susan Clark.