The Rev. Lawrence Edward Carter Sr., Morehouse College professor of religion, is the keynote speaker for the 2008 Martin Luther King Jr. Day observances at Bates College. Classes at the college are canceled and special programming is scheduled throughout the day with an emphasis on the theme Modernizing King: Old Roots, New Struggles.

Scheduled for 10:45 a.m. Monday, Jan. 21, in the Bates College Chapel, Carter’s address is part of a celebration of King’s life and work that includes performances, art exhibitions, workshops and orations. All events are open to the public free of charge. For more information, call 207-786-6400 or see a complete list of events scheduled for Martin Luther King Day.

Chaired by Charles Nero, associate professor of rhetoric, African American and American cultural studies, the Bates committee that organizes the annual observance of King’s birthday chose Modernizing King: Old Roots, New Struggles as its theme. Nero explains the thinking behind the choice:

“This year’s process represents a break with the past, when we selected themes based upon a quote by King. The committee decided to try something new, so several committee members brought ideas and themes. Tonya Taylor, Bates Class of 2002 and the program coordinator for the Multicultural Center, contributed the one that resonated with all of us. She wanted us to think about King’s relevance to today as well as to remove him from a continual association with death,” Nero says.

“We were all thrilled by Ms. Taylor’s proposed theme and her rationale,” Nero continues. “Thus, this year we want to explore, through workshops, presentations, debates, performances and artwork, Dr. King’s ongoing relevance to successive generations, including the impact of his principles of social justice upon coalitions, identities and struggles he did not imagine in his lifetime.”

The King Day observance begins at 11 a.m. Saturday, Jan. 19, with a memorial service for Amadou Cissé ’01, a graduate student at the University of Chicago who died last fall. Sponsored by the Office of Multicultural Affairs and the Multifaith Chaplaincy, the service will be held in the Bates College Chapel, College Street.

The observance continues at 6 p.m., Sunday, Jan. 20, with an opening reception for an MLK Day Committee-commissioned art exhibition by first-year students Clyde Bango of Harare, Zimbabwe, and Uriel Gonzalez of Von Ormy, Texas, in Chase Hall Gallery, 56 Campus Ave.

The eve of the holiday features a memorial service of worship in the College Chapel, College Street, at 7 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 20. The Rev. Marshall Elijah Hatch P ’10 of Chicago, recipient of the 2006 Weston Howland Jr. Award for Distinguished National Leadership based on his community work addressing issues of drugs, violence and poverty, delivers the annual Martin Luther King Jr. Day Memorial Service of Worship sermon. The service includes musical performances by Bates students, including a solo by first-year vocalist Megan Guynes of Rancho Cucamonga, Calif. Following the service, the Multifaith Chaplaincy hosts an 8:30 p.m. reception with Hatch at the Multicultural Center, 63 Campus Ave.

Student debaters from Bates and Morehouse colleges kick off King Day itself with an oratorical event, Minutes and Words of Eternity: The Dr. Benjamin Elijah Mays Speech Invitational.

The debaters will be introduced at 9 a.m. in Chase Hall Lounge, 56 Campus Ave. The debaters will argue the topic, “This house would require that electronic waste be disposed of in the nations that produce it” at 9:30 a.m. The match has historic resonance for the schools, which share a continuing commitment to collaborative projects. The nation’s largest liberal arts college for men, Morehouse was Martin Luther King Jr.’s alma mater. One of its longtime presidents was 1920 Bates graduate and accomplished debater Benjamin Mays, a lifelong adviser to the great civil rights leader. Mays eulogized King in 1968.

Mays, who served for 27 years as president of Morehouse and was the first African American chairman of the Atlanta School Board, inspired generations of civil rights leaders with both his words and actions. King called Mays “my spiritual mentor and my intellectual father,” says Katherine Stefko, director of archives and special collections for the Edmund S. Muskie Archives, who prepared the display in consultation with Associate Professor of History Hilmar Jensen. An exhibit in the lobby of Ladd Library celebrates Mays’ life, his long-time connection with Bates, and his many contributions, both direct and indirect, to the public and political struggle for civil rights, Stefko says. The exhibition will be on display through the month of May.

Carter delivers his 10:45 a.m. keynote address in the Bates Chapel. The keynote address will be prefaced at 10:30 a.m. with music by the Bates Jazz Band. A Morehouse professor of religion and an instructor at the Morehouse Medical School’s Master of Public Health Program, Carter also serves as the college archivist and curator. The first dean of the Martin Luther King Jr. International Chapel at Morehouse since 1979, Carter has honored the life of King and devoted considerable time traveling the globe as an advocate for peace and nonviolence.

In 1985, Carter founded the Morehouse College International Hall of Honor, which consists of 131 original oil portraits of distinguished leaders in the civil and human rights movements, including King, Mays, Mahatma Gandhi, Adam Clayton Powell Jr. and Thurgood Marshall. Carter also founded the college’s Gandhi Institute for Reconciliation in 2000.

Born in Dawson, Ga., and reared in Columbus, Ohio, Carter received his bachelor’s degree from Virginia University of Lynchburg, followed by his master’s in theology, his S.T.M. in pastoral care and his doctorate all from Boston University. He completed further study at Andover Newton Theological School, the Ohio University, Harvard University and Georgia State University, New York University, the University of Wisconsin-Madison, Brown University, Spelman College and George Washington University. A licensed and ordained Baptist minister, Carter was named a 1994 Fulbright Scholar and a National Endowment for the Humanities fellow in 1993 and 1996. He is the recipient of and administrator for numerous budgets, fellowships, gifts, grants and endowments.

From 1996 through 2002, Carter visited Bates each summer to lead a seminar at the college’s Benjamin Elijah Mays Institute. A widely published author on the psychology of religion, religion and ethics and the life of  Gandhi and King, Carter is the author of several works about Mays, including Walking Integrity: Benjamin Elijah Mays as Mentor to Martin Luther King Jr. (Mercer University Press, 1998).

Concurrent Monday afternoon workshops hosted by various academic departments and student organizations begin at 1:20, 2:35 and 4 p.m. in classrooms throughout Pettengill and Dana Chemistry halls. The workshops, featuring speakers, films and discussion, will focus on various topics tied to the day’s theme Modernizing King: Old Roots, New Struggles. Topics range from diversity at Bates, in a panel discussion led by President Elaine Tuttle Hansen, to the spoken word and the Harlem Renaissance, from music, technology and black emancipation to King’s link to race, class and the hip hop generation. For more information about the workshops, call 207-786-6400 or see a complete listing.

The entire King Day observance concludes with a performance in the Olin Arts Center Concert Hall at 7:30 p.m. Bates students commissioned to create cultural work for the occasion present music, dance and spoken-word pieces. The evening features senior Greg Waters of London, England, jazz; juniors Kevin Chambers, of East Orange, N.J., and Shawki White of Danville, Ill., hip hop/rap; senior Alissa Horowitz, of Yorktown Heights, N.Y., dance; and Sulo Dissanayake ’09, dramatic performance.

The college also co-sponsors an annual MLK Day Read-In where faculty, staff, students and members of the community will share a picture book with Martel School students in grades 4-6 at 1:30 p.m., Wednesday, Jan. 23. Those interested in volunteering should call 207-786-8351. (The snow date for this event is Wednesday, Jan. 30.)

A pioneer in the field of African American women’s history and chair of the Department of African American Studies, University of Maryland, College Park, Professor Sharon Harley is the keynote speaker for the 2006 Martin Luther King Jr. Day observances at Bates College. Classes at the college are canceled and special programming is scheduled throughout the day with an emphasis on the theme “The Noble Road to Peace: Storming the Battlements of Injustice.”

Scheduled for 10:45 a.m. Monday, Jan. 16, in the Bates College Chapel, Harley’s address is part of a celebration of King’s life and work that includes performances, workshops and a debate between Bates and Morehouse college students. All events are open to the public free of charge. For more information, call 207-786-6400, or see a complete list of scheduled events for Martin Luther King Jr. Day.

“The noble road to peace is not just a matter of not having war,” says John McClendon, associate professor of African American and American cultural studies at Bates. “More importantly, peace must be joined to justice.” Chaired by McClendon, the Bates committee that organizes the annual observance of King’s birthday chose to recognize King’s ardent opposition to the Vietnam War as it damaged lives abroad and diverted resources from social ills in the United States. “At this time in history we see a very similar situation, especially after Katrina, where 30 percent of the National Guard equipment that could save lives in New Orleans was used to take lives in Iraq,” McClendon says.

The college also co-sponsors an annual MLK Day Read-In where faculty, staff, students and members of the community will share a picture book with Martel School students in grades 4-6 at 1 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 19, and Friday, Jan. 20. Those interested in volunteering should e-mail Katie Seamon at this kseamon@bates.edu or call 207-786-8351.

The King Day observance begins on the eve of the holiday, at 7 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 15, with a memorial service of worship in the College Chapel, College Street. The Rev. William R. Jones, Florida State University Professor Emeritus, a pathfinder in the field of African American philosophy, delivers the sermon, ” Martin Luther King’s Noble Path to Peace: Pioneers, Pedestals, and Perils,” followed with musical performances by Bates students.  The Multicultural Center hosts an 8:30 p.m. reception with Jones after the service at 75 Franklin St.

The author of Is God a White Racist? A Preamble to Black Theology, the landmark critique of the black church’s treatment of evil and the nature of suffering, Jones is an internationally recognized scholar in the fields of liberation theology, African-American religion, religious humanism and multicultural education. Best known for his contributions to the theory of oppression and conflict resolution, Jones has written more than 100 articles about oppression, justice, black theology, counter-violence and the role of the church in social change.

Student debaters from Bates and Morehouse colleges kick off King Day itself when they argue the topic, “On the Immediate Withdrawal of Troops from Iraq: Noble Road to Peace or Accommodation to Terrorism?” The debaters will be introduced at 9 a.m. in Chase Hall Lounge, 56 Campus Ave.

The debate will begin at 9:30 a.m. The match has historic resonance for the schools, which share a continuing commitment to collaborative projects. The nation’s largest liberal arts college for men, Morehouse was Martin Luther King Jr.’s alma mater. One of its longtime presidents was a 1920 Bates graduate and accomplished debater Benjamin Mays, a lifelong adviser to the great civil rights leader. Mays  and the eulogized King in 1968.

Professor Sharon Harley delivers her 10:45 a.m. keynote address, “Race Women, Race Man: Imagined and Real Conversations Between Louise Thompson Patterson, Gloria Richardson and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.,” in the Bates College Chapel.

“Known throughout the world for his steadfast convictions and pursuit of racial equality, King’s nearly decade-long fight in the modern civil rights movement defined his legacy as a political activist and nonviolent protester,” says Harley.

“However, prior to and overlapping with King’s awe-inspiring marches, powerful speeches and seemingly endless patience in the fight for civil rights,” she says, “two women — Louise Thompson Patterson and Gloria Richardson — waged their own politically activist battles for not only racial but gender equality.”

Harley’s talk focuses on the work and lives of these two “race women” during the middle decades of the 20th century, and the imagined and very real conversations they (likely) had with King. “In an attempt to paint a more comprehensive mosaic of black men and women’s long and ongoing struggle for economic and racial justice in the United States,” says Harley, she will examine their activism relative to King’s.

An associate professor of African American Studies, Harley teaches courses on African American history, black culture, women’s history and women and work. She is the recipient of many scholarships and fellowships, including the 2003 Woodrow Wilson Center Fellowship, the Smithsonian Postdoctoral Fellowship, the Rockefeller Fellowship for Minority Group Scholars, the American Association of University Women and the Ford Foundation. Her research has focused on the history of black wage-earning women and black women’s organizational activities in the District of Columbia. Harley received her doctorate in U.S. history from Howard University.

A prolific scholar and widely published essayist, Harley is editor of and an essayist for Sister Circle: Black Women and Work (Rutgers University Press, 2002), an interdisciplinary volume exploring the role of work in black women’s lives. Her essay titled “The Death Foretold: Gloria Richardson and the Radical Black Activist Tradition” appears in Sisters in the Struggle: African American Women in the Civil Rights and Black Power Movements (New York University Press, 2001), edited by Bettye Collier-Thomas and V.P. Franklin. Harley’s major publication, Timetables of African American History: A Chronology of the Most Important People and Events in African American History (Simon & Schuster, 1995), was adopted as a selection for the History Book and Book-of-the-Month clubs.

Concurrent Monday afternoon workshops hosted by various academic departments and student organizations begin at 1:15, 2:35 and 3:35 p.m. in classrooms throughout Pettengill Hall. The workshops, featuring speakers and discussion, will focus on RE-STATE THEME. Topics range from King’s spiritual roots to the relationship between African American music and utopia, from the poetry of justice from around the world to recent shifts in Lewiston’s refugee population, from diversity in the sciences to the influence of Hegel on King’s political thought and practice. For more information about the workshops, call 207-786-6400.

The entire King Day observance concludes with a performance and Hurricane Katrina fund-raiser at 7:30 p.m. in the Olin Arts Center Concert Hall featuring the New Orleans-based tenor Chauncey Packer, a rising young opera star who is a Ph.D. candidate at Louisiana State University. Packer offers a concert of African American sacred music.

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The Rev. John Mendez, pastor of the Emmanuel Baptist Church, Winston-Salem, N.C., and the Winston-Salem Chronicle’s 1994 Man of the Year, is the keynote speaker for the 2005 Martin Luther King Jr. Day observances at Bates College. Classes at the college are canceled and special programming is scheduled throughout the day with an emphasis on the theme From Montgomery to Memphis: Martin Luther King’s Legacy of Labor, Justice and Dignity.

Scheduled for 10:45 a.m. Monday, Jan. 17, in the Bates College Chapel, Mendez’s address is part of a celebration of King’s life and work that includes performances, workshops, exhibitions and a debate with Bates, Morehouse and Spelman college participants. All events are open to the public free of charge. For more information, call 207-786-6400 or see a complete list of scheduled events for Martin Luther King Jr. Day.

On the eve of King’s 1968 assassination, the civil rights leader was in Memphis, Tenn., organizing striking sanitation workers and planning for a poor-people’s march in the nation’s capital. King’s support for non-unionized labor is a central component of his legacy that is often overlooked, says John McClendon, associate professor of African American and American cultural studies at Bates. Chaired by McClendon, the Bates committee that organizes the annual observance of King’s birthday chose to recognize King’s commitment to labor as this year’s theme.

MLK Day events at Bates start with an opening reception at 4:30 p.m. Friday, Jan. 14, in Chase Hall Gallery, Campus Avenue, for Unfree Labor and the Production of Language: An Exhibition of Words, a display curated by Czerny Brasuell, director of multicultural affairs, and Baltasar Fra-Molinero, associate professor of Spanish. On display through Jan. 24, the exhibition showcases artifacts reflecting the Creole languages that arose as a result of slavery and the African diaspora.

In a second exhibition honoring King’s birthday and Black History Month, the college displays The Photography of Griffith Jerome Davis from Jan. 10 to Feb. 15 in the George and Helen Ladd Library. The first roving editor for Ebony Magazine, Davis was a photojournalist and U.S. foreign service officer who was mentored by the Morehouse College President Benjamin Mays, Bates Class of 1920. The exhibition includes images from the U.S. civil rights movement, the independence movements of Africa and African American life in segregated Atlanta. Davis’ daughter, Dorothy Davis, will speak about his life and work at 4:45 p.m. Monday, Jan. 17, in Ladd Library.

The college also co-sponsors an annual MLK Day Read-In where faculty, staff, students and members of the community will share a picture book with Martel School students in grades 4-6 at 1 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 20, and Friday, Jan. 21. Those interested in volunteering should e-mail Brooke Miller at this bmiller@bates.edu or call 207-786-8273.

The King Day observance begins on the eve of the holiday, at 7 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 16, with a memorial service of worship, including a sermon and music,  in the College Chapel, College Street.

Student debaters from Bates, Morehouse and Spelman colleges kick off King Day itself when they argue the topic, “College Employees Should Unionize.” The debaters will be introduced at 9 a.m. Monday, Jan. 17,  in Chase Hall Lounge, Campus Avenue.

The debate will begin at 9:30 a.m. The match has historic resonance for the schools, which share a continuing commitment to collaborative projects. Founded in 1881, Spelman is one of the nation’s most highly regarded colleges for women. The nation’s largest liberal arts college for men, Morehouse was Martin Luther King Jr.’s alma mater. One of its longtime presidents was Bates graduate and accomplished debater Benjamin Mays,  a lifelong adviser to the great civil rights leader and the assassinated King’s eulogizer in 1968.

The Rev. John Mendez delivers his 10:45 a.m. keynote address in the Bates College Chapel.

A native of New York City, Mendez has pastored the Emmanuel Baptist Church in Winston-Salem for the past 21 years. Noted for his contributions to civil and human rights, Mendez has served as a consultant on many fact-finding missions, including investigations of Hawaiian land rights; pollution on Vieques Island, Puerto Rico; U.S. war crimes in Nicaragua and El Salvador; peace initiatives in Angola; the Mount Graham Apache Sacred Site; and the land rights of the Black Hills Lakota.

Widely recognized for his activism and community service, Mendez has received the Wendell-Wake County NAACP Humanitarian Award, the President’s Award of the Winston-Salem NAACP and Honorary Keeper of the Constitution given by the North Carolina Secretary of State.

An experienced lecturer, Mendez is a founding member of Re-framing the Dialogue on Racism, an organization that recruits, trains and builds a community of 100 white clergy from different denominations across the country to create strategies, ministries and programs at the congregational level that address racism in the white community.

Mendez participated in a pilot project on the black church’s economic responsibility for a new urban agenda at the Harvard University Divinity School. Mendez is a graduate of Shaw University in Raleigh, N.C.; Southeastern Baptist Theological Center in Atlanta, Ga; and the New York-based Postgraduate Center of Mental Health in pastoral counseling, psychoanalysis and psychotherapy.

A series of concurrent Monday afternoon workshops hosted by various academic departments and student organizations begins at 1:15, 2:30 and 3:35 p.m. respectively in Pettengill Hall in classrooms throughout the building. The workshops, featuring speakers and discussion, will focus on labor justice. Topics range from the life of 19th-century African American Bates alumna Stella James Sims to the interaction between King-era social activism and labor, from Lewiston labor history to impacts of the Vietnam War on the U.S. working class. For more information about the workshops, call 207-786-6400 or see a complete listing.

The afternoon’s events culminate with Dorothy Davis’ 4:45 p.m. talk in Ladd Library about her father, Griffith Jerome Davis, and his life, work and close connection to Morehouse College president Benjamin Mays ’20. A pathfinder in the field of international public affairs and special events, Ms. Davis has built international platforms for dialogue to promote respect for cultural differences. Her multicultural consulting firm, The Diasporan Touch, extends her commitment to build bridges between people, cultures and issues worldwide. The firm’s clients include the Executive Office of the Secretary General of the United Nations, the World Health Organization and The Alliance of Mayors and Municipal Leaders on HIV/AIDS in Africa. Davis also manages and curates “Photos by Griff Davis,” her father’s 55,000 photographic images.

The entire King Day observance concludes with a performance at 7:30 p.m. in the Olin Arts Center Concert Hall featuring The Fruit of Labor Singing Ensemble, the cultural arm of the civil rights and worker rights organization Black Workers for Justice. The six-member group performs songs from the history of people’s movements for social change, using African American music styles of rhythm & blues, gospel, reggae, jazz, folk, work songs and chants. The ensemble’s interactive performance includes a video presentation and invites audience participation.

Volunteers will read one-on-one or in small groups to students for approximately 30 minutes. Volunteers will then distribute the books, each with a civil rights or African-American history theme, to every child as a memento of the day, according to “read-in” coordinator Amy Keith, an AmeriCorps*VISTA member at both Bates and LAC.