Martin Luther King Jr.

The 27th annual Martin Luther King Jr. commemoration at Washington University in St. Louis will include a number of events on campus, all free and open to the public. Michel Martin, host of Tell Me More, National Public Radio’s one-hour daily news and talk show, will deliver the School of Medicine’s annual Martin Luther King Jr. Celebration Lecture Monday, Jan. 20.

Candace A. Ellison, financial adviser for Wells Fargo, was one of the presenters at the sixth annual “Financial Freedom Seminar: Making Your Money Work for You” Jan. 21 in Brown Hall. The seminar was hosted by the Society of Black Student Social Workers at the Brown School and brought together financial experts and St. Louis community members interested in financial issues.

More than 230 guests at the School of Medicine’s Martin Luther King Jr. celebration Jan. 18 gathered to hear Johnnetta Cole, Ph.D., director of the Smithsonian National Museum of African Art, speak on diversity in the medical field.

In remembrance of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., the Society of Black Student Social Workers at the George Warren Brown School of Social Work will host the fourth annual “Financial Freedom Seminar: Tying Loose Ends — Becoming Financially Secure,” from 8 a.m.-3 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 23, in Brown Hall, Room 100. The seminar, free and open to the public, is designed for St. Louis community youth and adults interested in building wealth, repairing and maintaining good credit, purchasing a home or starting and expanding a business.

In an effort to foster and encourage productive and proactive dialogue about race within the School of Social Work at Washington University and the St. Louis region, the Society of Black Student Social Workers (SBSSW) will host “Celebrate King Holiday 2006: When Does a Dream Become Reality?” Jan. 16 from 1-4 p.m. in room 100 of Brown Hall. This event is free and open to the public. The celebration will begin with a keynote address by Kristal Brent Zook, Ph.D., an award-winning investigative journalist and author. She will reflect on the past and current status of Black America to determine if there has been real progress in race relations.

MLK delivers his “I Have a Dream” speech.”Be The Change” is the theme of the University’s annual Commemoration Celebration honoring Dr. Martin Luther King’s birthday at 7 p.m., Jan. 17 in Graham Chapel. The celebration is free and open to the public. Chancellor Mark S. Wrighton will begin the program with a welcome and remarks. The evening will include performances by Vashon High School’s drumline, the YMCA Boys Choir, the University’s Vision Gospel Choir and Black Anthology, as well as testimonials from University students.

Martin Luther King, Jr.Jan. 19 marks the national observance of Martin Luther King Jr.’s birthday. Several events are planned on both the Hilltop and Medical campuses to commemorate King’s contributions and legacy. All are free and open to the public.

Forty years ago this month, the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his “I Have a Dream” speech at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C.Most Americans are familiar with the “I have a dream” passage of Martin Luther King Jr.’s most famous public address. But most have forgotten his admonishments, his criticism of America and the pressures he brought to bear through his message delivered on that sweltering August day 40 years ago, says a civil rights historian at Washington University in St. Louis. “Too often, that part of his speech is ignored, subsumed to the tranquil tones of ‘I have a dream …,'” says Leslie Brown, Ph.D., assistant professor of history and of African and Afro-American studies, both in Arts & Sciences. For that reason, Brown says, four decades after the March on Washington and King’s renowned “I Have a Dream” speech, that dream is still not realized.