Prof. Shively T. J. Smith led conversation honoring Life and Legacy of Martin Luther King, Jr.
January 25, 2025 – Associate Professor of New Testament Shively T. J. Smith moderated a conversation with featured keynote speaker Cole Arthur Riley during Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day Celebration 2025: The Darkness at Midnight, hosted by the Boston University Howard Thurman Center for Common Ground. The conversation followed Riley’s keynote address where she invited the audience to meditate on Dr. King’s sermon “A Knock at Midnight.” Prof. Smith and Riley spoke about communal story telling serves as an act of justice, the importance of preserving Black stories, individual spirituality, and reflecting on the voice of Dr. King in our contemporary contexts.
“I really loved…how at the end you invited us into the ‘sitting’ of ourselves,” said Prof. Smith in her introductory remarks. “I couldn’t help but…hear Thurman, a friend and mentor of King’s, in this.”
The event recording is available on the Thurman Center website, and Prof. Smith’s conversation begins at 1:13:00.