{"id":10702,"date":"2025-12-04T15:26:30","date_gmt":"2025-12-04T20:26:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/oee\/?page_id=10702"},"modified":"2026-01-15T12:08:18","modified_gmt":"2026-01-15T17:08:18","slug":"martin-luther-king-jr-commemorative-address","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/oee\/martin-luther-king-jr-commemorative-address\/","title":{"rendered":"Martin Luther King Jr. Commemorative Address"},"content":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":52,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"page-templates\/one-column.php","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_members_access_role":[],"_members_access_error":""},"class_list":["post-10702","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":{"lead_in":"","display_title":"","subtitle":"","call_to_action":"","hero_image_placement":"right_image","hero_media":"images","hero_pattern_option":"","hero_video":"","hero_image_landing":11022,"hero_image_landing_two":"","hero_image_landing_three":"","content_modules_above":[{"acf_fc_layout":"text","anchor":"","css_class":"mt-0 pt-0","title":"","content":"Presented annually since 2001, this public keynote honoring Dr. King\u2019s legacy challenges our community to reflect, engage, and act in the pursuit of a better world. Over the last 25 years, the address has featured many of the nation\u2019s highest profile leaders and scholars in the areas of civil rights and social justice.\r\n\r\n \r\n\r\nThe Office of the President, the Office of University Engagement and Enrichment, and the Office of Mentoring and Student Advocacy host the commemorative address.\r\n\r\n \r\n

25<\/strong>th<\/sup><\/strong>\u00a0<\/strong>Anniversary Address<\/strong><\/h2>\r\n

Thursday, January 29, 2026<\/p>\r\n

5:30 - 6:30 pm<\/p>\r\n

Frederick Douglass Commons<\/p>\r\n

Feldman Ballroom<\/p>\r\n

740 Library Road<\/p>\r\n

Rochester, NY 14611<\/p>\r\n

Meet\u00a0&\u00a0greet\u00a0and\u00a0book signing to follow<\/p>\r\n

Register to attend the address.<\/strong><\/a><\/p>","background_color":"#ffffff","width":"width-medium"},{"acf_fc_layout":"card_grid_new","anchor":"","css_class":"mt-0 pt-0 ","title":"

Keynote Speaker<\/h2>\r\n \r\n\r\n ","description":"","card_grid_cta":"","background_color":"#ffffff","width":"full-width","cards":[{"acf_fc_layout":"card","card_width":"full","card_overline":"","card_title":"

Rev. Dr. William J. Barber II<\/h3>","card_text":" \r\n\r\nThe Rev. Dr. William J. Barber II, President of Repairers of the Breach and Co-Chair of the Poor People\u2019s Campaign,\u00a0will be the keynote speaker at the University\u2019s\u00a025th<\/sup> annual\u202fMartin Luther King Jr. Commemorative Address.\u00a0All are welcome to attend this free event.","card_image_icon":"image","card_image":10802,"card_icon":"","card_icon_color":"#252525","card_image_size":"large","card_image_placement_full":"image-left","card_image_placement":"","card_background_color":"#f4f4f4","card_hover_color":"#00205b","card_link":"","card_hover_arrow":""}]},{"acf_fc_layout":"text","anchor":"","css_class":"","title":"

Speaker Biography<\/h2>","content":"Bishop William J. Barber II is President and Senior Lecturer of Repairers of the Breach, Bishop with The Fellowship of Affirming Ministries, Executive Board Member of the Christian Church Disciples of Christ, and Professor in the Practice of Public Theology and Public Policy and Founding Director of the Center for Public Theology and Public Policy at Yale Divinity School.\u00a0He is\u00a0Co-Chair of the Poor People's Campaign: A National Call\u00a0for\u00a0Moral Revival\u00a0and a Kettering Foundation Senior Fellow.\r\n\r\n \r\n\r\nBishop Barber\u00a0is the architect of the Forward Together Moral Movement, which\u00a0gained national acclaim in 2013 with its Moral Monday protests at the North Carolina General Assembly. In 2015, he\u00a0established\u00a0Repairers of the Breach to train communities in moral movement building through the Moral Political Organizing Leadership Institute and Summit Trainings (MPOLIS). In 2018, he co-anchored the relaunch of the Poor People's Campaign: A National Call for Moral Revival\u2014reviving the 1968 Poor People's Campaign organized by Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.,\u00a0the\u00a0women's rights movement,\u00a0the\u00a0worker's rights movement, religious leaders, and people of all races to fight poverty in the US. As a moral leader\u00a0engaging in nonviolent civil disobedience,\u00a0Bishop\u00a0Barber\u00a0has been arrested more than 15 times in various states standing up with those who have been marginalized by systematic racism, poverty, and injustice.\r\n\r\n \r\n\r\nBishop Barber\u00a0is the author of five books:\u00a0We Are Called to Be a Movement<\/em><\/a>;<\/em>\u00a0<\/em>Revive Us Again: Vision and Action in Moral Organizing<\/em><\/a>;\u00a0The Third Reconstruction: Moral Mondays, Fusion Politics<\/em>, and\u00a0The Rise of a New Justice Movement<\/em><\/a>;<\/em>\u00a0<\/em>and\u00a0Forward Together: A Moral Message For The Nation<\/em><\/a>.\u00a0White Poverty:<\/em>\u00a0<\/em>How<\/em>\u00a0<\/em>Exposing Myths About Race and Class Can Reconstruct American Democracy<\/em><\/a>\u00a0<\/em>was\u00a0released in June 2024.\r\n\r\n \r\n\r\n\u201cWilliam Barber is the closest person we have to Martin Luther King, Jr. in our midst.\"\u00a0<\/em>\r\n\r\n\u2014 Dr. Cornel West","background_color":"#f4f4f4","width":"width-medium"},{"acf_fc_layout":"text","anchor":"","css_class":"","title":"

Local Legacy Celebrations<\/h2>","content":"To enrich your day of reflection and celebration, we encourage you to consider attending RIT's annual Expressions of King's Legacy<\/strong><\/a> program at 12:00 pm, just a few hours before Rev. Barber's commemorative address. RIT's speaker will be Dr. Eddie Glaude, Jr., scholar, political commentator, and New York Times\u00a0<\/i>bestselling author.\u00a0Register here<\/strong><\/a> to attend their event, which is also free and open to the public.","background_color":"#ffffff","width":"width-medium"},{"acf_fc_layout":"accordion_new","anchor_id":"","classes":"","title":"

Past speakers<\/strong><\/h2>\r\n ","description":"For more information and photographs of past speakers, check out the\u00a020th<\/sup>\u00a0anniversary photographic celebration<\/a>.\r\n\r\n ","background":"plain","background_color":"#ffffff","style":"row_blank","expand":"no","accordions":[{"acf_fc_layout":"accordion","accordion_title":"2021-Present","icon":"","row_content":"2025 \u2013 Giancarlo Esposito\r\n\r\n2024 \u2013 Rachel Swarns\r\n\r\n2023 \u2013 Anthea Butler and Valeria Sinclair-Chapman\r\n\r\n2022 \u2013\u00a0Rheeda\u00a0Walker\r\n\r\n2021 \u2013 Ibram X. Kendi","accordion_anchor":""},{"acf_fc_layout":"accordion","accordion_title":"2011-2020","icon":"","row_content":"2020 \u2013 Eddie Glaude, Jr.\r\n\r\n2019 \u2013 Symone Sanders\r\n\r\n2018 \u2013 Maria Hinojosa\r\n\r\n2017 \u2013 Joy DeGruy\r\n\r\n2016 \u2013 Marc Morial\r\n\r\n2015 \u2013 Khalil Gibran Muhammad\r\n\r\n2014 \u2013 Benjamin Jealous\r\n\r\n2013 \u2013 Melissa Harris-Perry\r\n\r\n2012 \u2013 Michael Eric Dyson\r\n\r\n2011 \u2013 Alvin F.\u00a0Poussaint","accordion_anchor":""},{"acf_fc_layout":"accordion","accordion_title":"2001-2010","icon":"","row_content":"2010 \u2013 Joseph Lowery\r\n\r\n2009 \u2013 Nikki Giovanni\r\n\r\n2008 \u2013 Andrew Young\r\n\r\n2007 \u2013 Jesse Jackson\r\n\r\n2006 \u2013 Martin Luther King III\r\n\r\n2004 \u2013 Christopher Edley, Jr.\r\n\r\n2003 \u2013 Morris Dees\r\n\r\n2002 \u2013 Mary Frances Berry\r\n\r\n2001 \u2013 Julian Bond","accordion_anchor":""}]}],"sidebar":"show__sidebar","sidebar_feed":"menu_select","menu":"6","page_links":null,"sub_menu":"","content_modules":null},"yoast_head":"\nMartin Luther King Jr. Commemorative Address - 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