The 2024 Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and Coretta Scott King Celebration honoring Dr. Beverly Guy-Sheftall
 

Thursday | February 8, 2024 | 5:30pm

The Faculty of Arts and Sciences (FAS) is delighted to announce the 2024 Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and Mrs. Coretta Scott King Celebration. Held annually in February, we convene our communities to celebrate the collective and individual legacies of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr, Coretta Scott King, and generations of activists and thought-leaders—past and present—who work to make the world more just and equitable for all.

This year’s theme centers on Coretta Scott King’s bold and intersectional activism and the many ways she influenced the clarion call for civil and human rights in the 20th and 21st centuries. A global humanitarian, teacher, and prismatic arbiter of social justice, Coretta Scott King, spent her lifetime mobilizing around a broad range of social and political issues to ameliorate racism, colonialism, discrimination, and oppression writ large. Her activism spanned many movements and continents, and it transcended the classical phase of the Black freedom movement. The untimely death of her husband and partner in the struggle, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., on April 4, 1968, deepened Mrs. King’s profound and unflinching commitment to civil and human rights as she marshalled the memory of her martyred husband and continued their shared quest for peace, justice, and a beloved community.
 

ABOUT THE SPEAKER

We are honored to announce that Dr. Beverly Guy-Sheftall, Anna Julia Cooper Professor of Women’s Studies at Spelman College and founding director of the Women’s Research and Resource Center, will join our community to discuss Mrs. King’s profound impact over her lifetime. She will deliver an address, followed by a fireside chat with Dr. Imani Perry, the Carol K. Pforzheimer Professor, Harvard Radcliffe Institute and the Henry A. Morss and Elisabeth W. Morss Professor of Studies of Women, Gender, and Sexuality, and of African American Studies, Harvard Faculty of Arts & Sciences.

This keynote address will be held on Thursday, February 8, 2024 at 5:30pm in Sanders Theater. Registration will open soon and is open to the public.

The Kings' commitment to freedom, peace, and public service are ideals that align with our institutional values and aspirations. In this spirit, we hope you will join us to learn, reflect, and honor their legacies for the FAS community, for Harvard, and beyond.

We are grateful to the FAS Diversity, Inclusion, and Belonging Leadership Council for conceptualizing and planning this celebration.