{"id":4480,"date":"2025-01-09T16:04:08","date_gmt":"2025-01-09T21:04:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/thurman\/?post_type=r-htc-programs&p=4480"},"modified":"2025-01-15T13:22:24","modified_gmt":"2025-01-15T18:22:24","slug":"mlk-day-2025","status":"publish","type":"r-htc-programs","link":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/thurman\/programs\/mlk-day-2025\/","title":{"rendered":"Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day Celebration 2025: The Darkness at Midnight"},"content":{"rendered":"

Join us in honoring the life and legacy of Martin Luther King Jr. on Saturday, January 25th, 2025, at 12 pm EST<\/strong>. The event will be held at the GSU Metcalf Hall, 775 Commonwealth Ave, Boston MA 02215.<\/p>\n

Register on Eventbrite HERE:\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n

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This celebration is hosted by Boston University\u2019s Howard Thurman Center for Common Ground and the City of Boston. We are grateful for the support and sponsorship of our co-hosts BU Libraries, Boston University Government & Community Affairs, and the Dean of Students Office.<\/p>\n

This year\u2019s theme is “The Darkness at Midnight<\/span>” inspired by Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s\u00a0 1962 speech “A Knock at Midnight.” The sermon describes<\/span> society <\/span>in a<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>moral, spiritual, <\/span>and <\/span>psychologica<\/span>l \u201c<\/span>state<\/span> of chaos.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n

Our program will celebrate Dr. King and highlight his written and spoken work.<\/p>\n

This year\u2019s keynote speaker is writer and poet Cole Arthur Riley.<\/span> She is the author of the New York Times bestsellers, <\/span>This Here Flesh: Spirituality, Liberation, and the Stories that Make Us <\/span><\/i>and <\/span>Black Liturgies: Prayers, Poems, and Meditations for Staying Human. <\/span><\/i>Her writing has been featured in The Atlantic, Guernica, and The Washington Post. Cole is also the creator and writer of Black Liturgies, a project that integrates spiritual practice with Black emotion, Black literature, and the Black body.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

In addition, we welcome you to join a special Saturday tour of\u00a0<\/span>The Martin Luther King, Jr. Reading Room<\/a>\u00a0<\/span>in the Mugar Memorial Library after the celebration.<\/p>\n

The Boston University Libraries proudly holds an archival collection of Dr. King\u2019s manuscripts, notebooks, correspondence, printed material, financial and legal papers, photographs, and other items dating from 1947 to 1964.<\/p>\n

Tour times:<\/p>\n

1: 45 pm<\/a><\/p>\n

2:05 pm<\/a><\/p>\n

2:25 pm<\/a><\/p>\n

2:45 pm<\/a><\/p>\n

If pre-registration is closed, there may still be an opportunity to attend a tour on a first-come-first-serve basis by heading to library entrance on the first floor of the George Sherman Union after the MLK Celebration. Staff will be on site to assist.<\/p>\n

If you are unable to attend the 2025 MLK Celebration in person, it will be\u00a0<\/span>live-streamed below on Saturday, January 25th, 2025.<\/strong><\/p>\n