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Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Week

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Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Week 2024-02-16T08:40:11+00:00

 

Website Banner, MLK Week

Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Week 2024

The Power of Community: Bridging the Divide

Wednesday, January 17

Unviolence: Self defense and protest during the civil rights movement and MLK Pop-Up Library!

Facilitated by: Ali Everett, Inter-Cultural Center Peer Facilitator

Facilitated by: Ali Everett, Inter-Cultural Center Peer Facilitator

Facilitated by: Ali Everett, Inter-Cultural Center Peer Facilitator

Time: 11:30 a.m.-1:00 p.m.
Location: Mt. Constance/Olympus, Building 8

Join us for a discussion on Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and his relation to self-defense during the civil rights movement. A rejection of the supposed conflict between self-defense and non-violence.

Pop-Up Library with Highline College Librarians! 

Interested in learning more about MLK? come by and check out our collection of books! You may also request readings on our MLK library guide at this link.

Tuesday, January 23rd

Highline Mural: Community Connections through Coloring

Facilitated by: ​Žanetka K. Gawronski
Time: 1:00-4:00 p.m.
Location: Mt. Townsend, Building 8

Art is a medium that is used to bring people together. In honor of Dr. King’s push for bringing the community together, we will be creating a collage mural that will be hung on our campus. Feel free to stop by and help us create something special for our campus.

Artist Bio: My family and I immigrated to the United States from Slovakia when I was very young; this dramatic change influenced my perception of the world and led me to pursue a life dedicated to the arts. I have been painting, sculpting and printmaking for more than thirty years and received my formal training from the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Philadelphia. My involvement in the arts has spanned a broad spectrum: theatrical set designs, children’s museum exhibit designs, book cover illustrations, public murals, fabrication team for Nickelodeon Network, Blues Clues, T.V. Land and The Big Help Mobile, as well as, both gallery and museum exhibitions. When I’m not in my studio, I can be found in the classroom as a Fine Arts professor or outside exploring our beautiful world.

Thursday, January 25th

Caring as a Community: Building Strength and Solidarity in Queer the Land

Speakers: Evana Enabulele and LC
Time: 12:00-1:30 p.m.
Location: Building 2

Evana Enabulele is a core member of Queer The Land (QTL), a QTBIPOC advocate and an affordable housing organizer. Evana leads the housing circle in QTL, nurturing the dreams of QTBIPOC of building a home and safe community space. Their passion is working on unique housing strategies and finding ways to combat the mental aspect of displacement and gentrification. Evana has also worked for the City of Seattle as a recreation attendant, event scheduler, and assistant coordinator for ten years. Evana is a featured organizer in the book Nourish, a collection of short stories, photos, and recipes from 10 local Seattle organizers. Evana participated in the entire legal process of purchasing Queer the Land’s new 12-bedroom home in Beacon Hill, Seattle. Evana is a proud Houston native living in the south end of Seattle. Evana has over 100 plants and collects unique carnivorous and rare plants.

Monday, January 29th

Being Black on Zoom: Black Women’s Experiences with Technology During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Speaker: Jazmin “JD” Dantzler

Speaker: Jazmin “JD” Dantzler

Speaker: Jazmin “JD” Dantzler

Time: 11:00am-12:30pm
Location: Building 2

Jazmin “JD” Dantzler (she/her) serves as the Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (JEDI) Coordinator for University Housing Services at California State Polytechnic University, Pomona. She is a doctoral student in the Higher Education program at Azusa Pacific University (APU). As a Black queer womanist scholar, JD’s research interests include Black queer women’s experiences at religiously-affiliated institutions and Black women’s experiences with anti-Blackness and technology during the COVID-19 pandemic. JD is passionate about the liberation and freedom of Black people and nurturing Black college students.

 

Thursday, February 1st

Dr. AK Sterling

Speaker: Jazmin “JD” Dantzler

I Am Black History 

Speaker: Jazmin “JD” Dantzler

Time: 1:30-3:00pm
Location: Building 7

CCIE in collaboration with Umoja presents “I Am Black History” featuring Dr. AK Sterling discussing an alternative vision for Black History Month. Instead of focusing solely on well-known stories and figures, it explores the history of identification, accomplishments, innovation, and excellence within the Black culture.

 

Past Event Schedule

Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Week 2023

Living MLK: Moving Beyond Surviving to Thriving

Tuesday, Jan. 17, 2023

Opening Keynote with Dr. Paige Gardner

Visibilizing the Invisible: The Courageous Leaders behind MLKs Dream

Time: 11 a.m.-12:30 p.m.
Location: Mt. Constance/Olympus, Building 8

The legacy of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. runs deep and continues to inspire generation after generation of leaders. In an effort to further understand the power of community, Dr. Gardner will reflect on some of the invisibilized leaders who worked alongside MLK to enact radical love and justice. It is at the intersection of hypervisible movements and invisibilized identities where exploitation and erasure can take place.

Together, we will reflect on aspects of our Highline communal/leadership roles and learn about the ways emotional labor negatively impacts our ability to thrive in community. Emotional labor is the process of regulating your emotions and putting others’ needs before your own during interactions with students, colleagues, and supervisors in order to deliver high quality work. It can be difficult to detect – and even more challenging to manage – especially in environments that prioritize human connection. Expending high-level emotional labor over extended periods of time can lead to burn out, permanent exhaustion, and, at times, turnover. These factors chip away at the quality of team work and inhibit the way we exercise agency in movements for change. Dr. Gardner will offer four strategies to help you navigate those challenges and will provide space for you to brainstorm ways to minimize emotional labor and maximize agency in your life.

About the Speaker:

Dr. Gardner (she, her, hers) serves as Co-Program Director and  Assistant Professor in the College of Education at Seattle University. She has 13 years of scholar-practitioner experience in crisis management, multicultural affairs, and residential education. Her research agenda centers race and gender equity in the workplace as well as intersectional identity development among students, staff, and faculty in higher education and student affairs. Dr. Gardner has facilitated a series of Diversity-Equity-Inclusion webinars and workshops for Academic Impressions, a national professional development platform for faculty and staff in higher education. She is also a co-founder of Career Killing Moves for Women of Color in Higher Education, which serves as a digital storytelling platform that fosters courageous and authentic leadership development. As a queer, Black, Woman of Color, Dr. Gardner finds great importance in advocating, empowering, and building solidarity-based coalitions with and for those on the margins of society. Inspired by the African proverb, Ubuntu, “I am, because we are,” Dr. Gardner builds community, cultivates change, and creates compassionate learning environments for students to thrive.

Pop up Library

Time: 12:30-1 pm & 1:45-2:30 pm
Location: Mt. Constance/Olympus, Building 8

Workshop with Dr. Paige Gardner

(Student Space) Leading for Self & Others: A Vision Boarding Activity

Time: 1-1:45 p.m.
Location: Mt. Constance/Olympus, Building 8

Legacy: Who was MLK?

Hosted by: Global Student Ambassadors
Time: 2:30-4 p.m.
Location: Mt. Constance/Olympus, Building 8

Curious to learn more about Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. or why we celebrate MLK Day? Then please come to “Legacy: Who Was MLK?” on Tuesday, January 17th from 2:30-4:00 pm in Building 8, Mt. Constance/Olympus. During this interactive session, you will learn about Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., his impact on the 1950’s and 1960’s Civil Rights Movement, and how his legacy continues to impact civil rights issues of today.


Wednesday, Jan. 18, 2023

Lessons from the Past about an Uncertain Future: Social Justice and Ecological Crises

Speaker: Dr. Robert Jensen
Time: 11 a.m.-12:30 p.m.
Location: via Zoom
Passcode: 726483

We often look to inspirational figures from the past for insights about our moment in history. What do the writings and life of Martin Luther King, Jr. help us understand about the multiple cascading ecological crises of today? Not much in detail, because the world’s ecosystems are in crisis in ways that no one from King’s era could have predicted. As we celebrate the courage and achievements of King and the civil rights movement, we can hold onto the values they lived while recognizing that we are on new ground in the struggle for a sustainable human future.

Highlighting Community Pillars: The Impact of Local Businesses on Community Growth, Unity, and Resilience

Guest Panelists
Time: 1:30-3 p.m.
Location: Mt. Constance/Olympus, Building 8

Local businesses were pivotal to the civil rights movement. In their own form of community organizing, they contributed innovation, strength and courage to those around them. Join us for a panel with business owners local to King County and engage as you listen to their stories, visions, and work towards fostering a thriving community


Thursday, Jan. 19, 2023

Building Bridges at Highline

Performance by iBuild Bridges Foundation
Time: 12:15-1:45 p.m.
Location: Mt. Townsend, Building 8

iBuildBridges uses music to inspire individuals to actively build relationships with people of different races, religions and backgrounds. Musicians will share their own compositions and equity-based songs with messages supporting diversity and inclusion. A Q&A session will be provided to deeply connect students and performers. A 45-minute concert will be followed by a 45-minute presentation, “The Art of Inclusion While Having Fun” by iBuildBridges Music Director Eduardo Mendonça. Using the arts as a tool of liberation and their vital role to foster conceptual development in leadership, the learning process will incorporate the practice of lenses of race and social justice as essential instruments to help to reflect on identity as an anti-racist, humanizing individual working for social justice.

Food Pantry Pop-Up

Time: 12:15-1:45 p.m.
Location: Mt. Townsend, Building 8

Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Week 2022

Reclaim & Reimagine: Grounded in an Era of Transformation

Tuesday, January 18, 2022


Making Peace with the Reverend Doctor, and other complicated revolutionaries in this Life and the Next

Keynote Address by Neve Mazique
12:15 p.m.-1:45 p.m.
Neve Mazique Zoom Link

Meeting ID: 862 7679 7386

Passcode: MLK2022

NEVE, choreographer, writer, multidimensional artist, and revolutionary movement leader/follower tells a story of the Rev Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. in which he is held up to the light to better appreciate the multi-faceted person he was. It is natural for us as ascendants of a movement, reverent of what we inherited, to romanticize and paint rosy the checkered pasts of our ancestors after their deaths. After all, the oldest ancestors become gods, or at the very least, stars. Yet, when we do so, we miss shadowy details of a person that matter as much as the bright spots. The same person can do great good and cause great harm. How do we make peace with that? How do we make peace with each other?

Wednesday, January 19, 2022


Embodying the Beloved Community Through Healing-Centered Education

Lecture by Dr. Angel Acosta
10:00 a.m. – 11:30 a.m.

Dr. Angel Acosta Zoom Link

Meeting ID: 829 2697 4425

Passcode: MLK2022

To celebrate the legacy of Martin Luther King Jr. is to attempt to embody what he referred to as the “beloved community.” What does it mean to embody an all-inclusive way of being that leaves no room for prejudice, discrimination and hate? This event will invite Dr. Angel Acosta to engage in dialogue on MLK’s vision and life work. Through the lens of healing-centered education, Dr. Acosta will contextualize the beloved community in our times. In our unprecedented times, we need to continuously come together to revive the values and practices of compassion, interdependence and perseverance. Through a combination of dialogue, writing exercises, and mindfulness practices, this event will invite us to dive into history to wrestle with what it means to build equitable futures for all of us.

Thursday, January 20, 2022


The Promised Land is Accessible: Dr. MLK Jr. Lessons for Achieving Disability Justice

Lecture by  ChrisTiana ObeySumner
12:15 p.m.-1:45 p.m.

ChrisTiana ObeySumner Zoom Link

Meeting ID: 861 0991 6394

Passcode: MLK2022

“All progress is precarious, and the solution of one problem brings us face to face with another problem,” Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

As we cautiously enter into this new year, we may hear more incorporation of Disability Justice into our anti-racism, Indigenous sovereignty, and Black liberation work. This is core to the success of our equity efforts and the vision of Dr. MLK Jr., to recognize the wholeness and intersectionality of our community as folks with varying abilities and neurodivergencies.

This talk seeks to provide strategy, motivation, and affirmation for Black, Brown, and Indigenous disabled folks and their accomplices. ChrisTiana ObeySumner, (Disability Justice Activist and Founder and Principal Consultant, Epiphanies of Equity LLC,) will reflect on lessons and quotes from Dr. MLK Jr. and weave them in with the framework and community voice of Disability Justice. We will honor and recognize our Black, Brown, and Indigenous disabled ancestors through reflection on our collective power and interdependence towards the Promised Land.

Friday, January 21, 2022


Film & Discussion: King in the Wilderness

Facilitated by MLK Week Committee
1:00 p.m. – 3:30 p.m.

King in the Wilderness Zoom Link

Meeting ID:       843 5421 4884

Passcode:        752397

King in the Wilderness chronicles the final chapters of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s life, revealing a conflicted leader who faced an onslaught of criticism from both sides of the political spectrum. While the Black Power movement saw his nonviolence as weakness, and President Lyndon B. Johnson saw his anti-Vietnam War speeches as irresponsible, Dr. King’s unyielding belief in peaceful protest became a testing point for a nation on the brink of chaos.


2022 MLK Week Committee: Aaron Modica, Amy Rider King, Anita Wambui, Dr. Darryl Brice, Doris Martinez, Geomarc Panelo, Jodi White, Kathy Nguyen, Malaelupe Samifua, Patrice Harris and Edwina Fui (Chair)

Radical Vision 20/20: Reclaiming Our Past, Rewriting Our Present, Reimagining Our Future


Monday, January 20, 2020

MLK Day of Service: “A Day On, Not a Day Off!”

8:00 a.m.-4:00 p.m.
Garfield High School-Seattle, WA

Want to volunteer? Please fill out the MLK Day of Service form.

Observed each year on the third Monday in January as “a day on, not a day off”, MLK Day is the only federal holiday designated as a national day of service to encourage all individuals to volunteer to improve their communities. Students will have an opportunity to participate in this day of service, located in Seattle at Garfield High School. The celebration includes morning workshops, a career & opportunity fair, a rally, a march, and other events organized around this theme.

Lunch, transportation (from Highline College), and a t-shirt will be provided for volunteers!


Tuesday, January 21, 2020

Courageous Stories in the Face of Resistance

Keynote Address by Jenna Hanchard
11:00 a.m.-12:30 p.m.
Building 7

Marginalized groups often face pressure to contort their truth and rewrite their stories in corporate, capitalist and colonized spaces. In a radical vision for 2020, communities must be challenged to amplify and center marginalized narratives.

Journalist, storyteller, and equity advocate Jenna Hanchard believes our stories can only be written in our voices. She shares the tools needed to help us stay close to our truth and share it in the face of resistance.

Art, Power, Resistance: Critical Voices of Children

Workshop presented by Jennifer Young
6:15 p.m.-8:00 p.m.
Building 8, Mt. Constance/Mt. Olympus

For all educators, community members, artists, children, and families interested in how creativity, collaboration, communication and critical thinking can be expanded through stories of social justice through the eyes of children and their drawings which are animated.

Jennifer Young embarked on a two year creative and intellectual journey with a group of brilliant EL (English Learner) students who studied the period of European colonization and exploration through the lens of historically marginalized groups. After completing the history/political science unit, students did a critical analysis of Shaun Tan’s “The Rabbits”, which later inspired their culminating multi-modal project. The culminating project is a bold collection of counter-narratives that utilize art and story telling as a way to illuminate broader social considerations.


Wednesday, January 22, 2020

Rupturing from the black-white racial binary: AfroLatinxs bridging the black-brown divide

Lecture by Dr. Claudia Garcia Louis
10:00 a.m.-11:30 a.m.
Building 8, Mt. Constance/Mt. Olympus

The black-white binary is seeded in colonial invasion, slavery, and xenophobic principles. It has been utilized to keep colonist racial hierarchies in their place while sustaining the black-brown divide. In this presentation, I will underscore how the social investment in racial differences is foregrounded by ahistorical accounts of American blackness and mestizaje. Finally, I argue AfroLatinxs could serve as the bridge between brownness and blackness given they disrupt the essentialism of the binary.

Dr. García-Louis is an assistant professor of higher education and leadership studies at the University of Texas San Antonio. Her research focuses on the racialization of Latinxs in higher education, the impact of race and racism on their academic performance, and intragroup Latinx racial heterogeneity.

Pop-Up! Library

11:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m.

Building 8, Mt. Constance/Mt. Olympus

From January-February your campus library honors & celebrates January 20th’s MLK Jr. Day, our excellent on-campus MLK Jr. Week of programming, and February’s Black History-Black Futures month. Brought to you by the joint efforts of librarians Qin Cao and Samantha Sermeño, the library encourages our campus to checkout our in-house display and the following libguide (link): MLK Jr. Week, Black History-Black Futures Months. In this libguide you’ll find in-house library and ebooks for checkout, Black diaspora media, Black History and activism resources.

Seize Your Moment

Lecture by Obasi Shaw
1:30 p.m.-3:00 p.m.
Building 8, Mt. Constance/Mt. Olympus

What’s the difference between sheer luck and calculated risk-taking? How can you capitalize on your unique voice and position to make a difference in the world? What does it truly mean to seize your moment? Come hear thoughts, advice, and some quality rap from a rapper, writer, software engineer, and Harvard graduate who’s managed to seize his own fair share of moments.

Obasi Shaw is a rapper, writer, and Google software engineer, whose 2017 senior thesis made waves as Harvard’s first rap thesis. The thesis, a 10-song rap album called Liminal Minds, received high praise as both a rap album and a work of poetry, and can be found on all major streaming platforms. Obasi has given talks at universities, high schools, and a Fortune 100 company, as well as an interview with Sway in the Morning. He is passionate about teaching diverse groups how to cultivate and embrace their unique talents and leverage them for success in imaginative ways.


Thursday, January 23, 2020

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Revolutionary and Scholar

Lecture by Maurice Dolberry
10:00 a.m.-11:30 a.m.
Building 7

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was a powerful and multi-faceted man, whose impact on modern humanity belies the 39 years of his shortened life. While Dr. King’s legacy is now regularly praised by conservatives and condemned by radicals in the US, the reality of who he was is often lost in the tug of war. This program will help us reconcieve Dr. King as a courageous revolutionary and scholar, whose unapologetic Blackness stood at the foundation of his activism.

During his 22 years as an educator, Maurice Dolberry has been teacher, coach, and an administrator in grades Pre-K through 20.  He currently runs A Line in the Sand,LLC, an educational consulting and research service, and coaches high school wrestling in Seattle.  Originally from Ypsilanti, Michigan, Maurice is a hip-hop head, a Sci-Fi fan, and a long-time dog owner. He earned a B.S. In biology from Howard University, a M.Ed. from Florida Atlantic University, and a PhD in education from the University of Washington.

Our Mo’olelo (history/story) of Liberation: Centering Indigenous futures in our work towards transformation

Lecture by Dr. Jamaica Heolimeleikalani Osorio
12:00 p.m.-1:30 p.m.
Building 7

Discussing the role of Indigenous values and practices in our contemporary social movements for justice and transformation, Dr. Osorio will share ʻŌiwi (indigenous) moʻolelo (stories and histories) of activism and resistance to settler / state violence and how those histories are informing a birth of a revolution in Hawaiʻi around indigenous rights, extractive capitalism, over development, police brutality and State sanctioned violence. These moʻolelo will then be used to offer insight and possibilities for future organizing on Turtle Island (the US continent)—and offer some ideas as to how our movements can support and learn from and with each other.

Dr. Jamaica Heolimeleikalani Osorio is a Kanaka Maoli wahine poet / activist / scholar born and raised in Pālolo Valley to parents Jonathan and Mary Osorio. Heoli earned her PhD in English (Hawaiian literature) with the completion of her dissertation entitled: “(Re)membering ʻUpena of Intimacies: A Kanaka Maoli Moʻolelo Beyond Queer Theory.” Currently, Heoli is an Assistant Professor of Indigenous and Native Hawaiian Politics at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa. Heoli is a three-time national poetry champion, poetry mentor and a published author. She is a proud past Kaiāpuni student, Ford fellow, and a graduate of Kamehameha, Stanford (BA) and New York University (MA).


Friday, January 24, 2020

Inter-Cultural Center Flick Friday: “Blackkklansman”

Film Viewing
12:00 p.m.-2:00 p.m.
Building 7

The Inter-Cultural Center in collaboration with MLK Week 2020 present, Flick Friday with a showing of Blackkklansman. Join us for this screening and engage in dialogue during this event! Movie Description: “Ron Stallworth is the first African-American detective to serve in the Colorado Springs Police Department. Determined to make a name for himself, Stallworth bravely sets out on a dangerous mission: infiltrate and expose the Ku Klux Klan. The detective soon recruits a more seasoned colleague, Flip Zimmerman, into the undercover investigation of a lifetime. Together, they team up to take down the extremist hate group as the organization aims to sanitize its rhetoric to appeal to the mainstream.”

Volunteer Opportunities

We are looking for volunteers to assist during MLK Week.  This is a great opportunity for students seeking extracurricular activities. Please sign up on our volunteer form.

Sponsored by:

Sponsored by Center for Cultural & Inclusive Excellence, Center for Leadership & Service, Learning and Teaching Center, AANAPISI, Academic Affairs and Central Washington University

2020 MLK Week Committee: Dr. Darryl Brice, Jodi White, Aaron Modica, Edwina Fui, Betty Vera, Geomarc Panelo, Amy Bergstrom, Paul Lupe, Syrenin Sam, Donna Enguerra Simpson, Mishel Kuch, Malaelupe Samifua, Rashmi Koushik and Doris Martinez (Chair)

For more information: Dmartinez@highline.edu or (206) 592-4319

Nothing to Lose: Preserving Humanity in the Face of Trauma


Tuesday, January 22, 2019

The Village It Will Take: What Our Wounds Demand of Justice/Just Us

11 a.m.–12:30 p.m.

Keynote address by Terisa Siagatonu, Poet, Arts Educator, Community Organizer & Mental Health Advocate

Location: Building 7

This opening keynote address will ponder the questions that Dr. King Jr.’s legacy illuminated towards the end of his life: what is the full cost of justice and who is paying for it? Can we afford to fight for our collective humanity as our wounds remain unhealed? Amidst new ones that hurt us every day? How does the grief of injustice impact our demand for its end? This keynote invites participants to hold their trauma not in isolation: but in community with each other, and remain steadfast in Dr. King’s relentless hope for all of us, reminding us that if it takes a village to raise a child, then it will take a village to heal them.

Terisa Siagatonu’s presence in the poetry world as a queer Samoan woman and activist has granted her opportunities to perform in places ranging from the UN Conference on Climate Change in Paris, France to the White House. She holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Community Studies and minor in Education from the University of California- Santa Cruz and a Master’s Degree in Marriage/Family Therapy from the University of Southern California (USC). Learn more about Terisa Siagatonu.

 

Indigenizing Spaces: Teachings of the First People

1:30 p.m.–3 p.m.

Lecture presented by Roger Fernandes

Location: Building 8 (1st floor), Mt. Constance/Mt. Olympus

This presentation will share traditional mythic stories and legends of the local Coast Salish tribes and examine the meanings and teachings within the stories that can influence our modern lives.

Roger Fernandes is a Native American artist, storyteller, and educator whose work focuses on the culture and arts of the Coast Salish tribes of western Washington.  He is a member of the Lower Elwha S’Klallam Tribe and has a B.A. in Native American Studies from the Evergreen State College and M.A. in Whole Systems Design from Antioch University.  As an artist he practices and teaches Coast Salish design and as a storyteller he shares storytelling as a foundational human process for teaching and healing.  He currently teaches courses on storytelling and art at the University of Washington, Northwest Indian College and other learning institutions.


Wednesday, January 23, 2019

My People Are Rising

10 a.m.–11:30 a.m.

Documentary Screening and Q & A by Rafael Flores, Director

Location: Building 7

Please join us for a special screening of “My People Are Rising”, Aaron Dixon’s autobiographical film about the foundation of the Seattle Black Panther party chapter. With a special guest appearances and Q&A with director Rafael Flores of Green Eyed Media and Aaron Dixon.

Rafael Flores is Phi Beta Kappa Scholar who specializes in Directing, Social Justice Film Production, Chicano Cinema, and Third Cinema. Flores is the Arts Director for non-profit United Roots, and the Co-Founder of production company, Green Eyed Media, organizations both based in Oakland, CA. His work has been praised by various institutions that include: The White House, The Grammy Foundation, TED-X lecture series, the Cannes International Film Festival, the Writer’s Guild Theater of America, the London Guardian, and the Chicano International Film Festival. For more information, please visit https://greeneyedmedia.com/portfolio-item/my-people-are-rising/#

 

Reception, My People Are Rising: Memoir of a Black Panther Party Captain

12:00 p.m.–1:30 p.m.

Lecture presented by Aaron Dixon, former Black Panther Party Captain

Location: Building 8, (Mt. Constance/Olympus)

The presentation will begin with Aaron Dixon discussing the writing of his memoir. He will then be available to answer questions from students about the Black Panther Party as well as its relevance to today’s political climate.

Aaron Dixon is a former captain of the Black Panther Party, Seattle Chapter. In Oakland, he worked in the BPP National Headquarters for six years as an assistant to Elaine Brown and Huey P. Newton. For 25 years, he worked for gang-involved and homeless youth. In 2006, he ran for the U.S. Senate as a Green Party candidate. He has traveled to Palestine with the African Heritage Delegation. Aaron Dixon is the author of My People are Rising (2012). He travels throughout the country speaking at college campuses and community centers. Aaron is working on his next book.


Thursday, January 24, 2019

Hilltop Urban Gardens: Growing Towards Freedom

9:00 a.m.–10:30 a.m.

Lecture presented by Miriam McBride, Community Activist, and Evan Martynovych, Community Activist

Location: Building 8, (Mt. Constance/Olympus)

Hilltop Urban Gardens mission is to create a sovereign food system and to create economic and racial justice. We are a Black, Queer, and Trans led organization that centers the needs of Black folks and does work to support and uplift other marginalized communities. We operate through an anti-racist lens to create a community we can all thrive in.

Miriam McBride is an active community activist. For the past 2 years, she has been involved with HUG and is currently working on projects to get youth involved in gardening and community organizing. She is also passionate about seeing the power of Black folks being able to reframe their relationship to land and food.

Evan Martynovych is a Ph.D. candidate at Prescott College in the Sustainability Education Program. Evan has been an intern with HUG for the past five years. She is currently working on educating and training white volunteers at HUG with their white folks’ orientation, the purpose of this orientation is to help white volunteers to better understand their role when working within a Black led organization. This training teaches white folks about their whiteness, how it impacts the spaces they are in, and affects people of color.

 

 

Apapachandonos: Towards a Lasting Collectivity

1:30 p.m.–3 p.m.

Lecture presented by Chhoti Maa, Multidisciplinary Cultural Producer

Location: Building 7

In this workshop, we will delve through the 13 airs that affect the body, soul and spirit according to Mexican traditional medicine practitioner Estela Roman. The airs of the soul are susto, fright, sadness, worry, anger, shame, resentment, grief, envy, jealousy, guilty, fear, and egotism. This workshop will utilize oral tradition, drawing and creative writing to help folks identify the airs that are prevalent in their body and their family. This is a workshop for introspection and release. Utilizing Indigenous medicine/philosophy we will get an in depth understanding of how to unknot internalized systems of oppression.

Chhoti Maa was born in Guanajuato, MX and is currently based in Oakland, CA. She has self-released 6 projects in her 11 years as an MC/singer/producer. Her sound work is rooted in hip-hop, neufolk, and Mexican oral tradition, specifically her Grandma’s storytelling magic. Since 2007, Chhoti Maa has performed, collaborated and taught in Puerto Rico, China, US, Cuba, Spain, Qatar, U.A.E., Ghana, Sweden, Canada, Peru and Mexico. Their work deals with de-colonial living, red medicine, queerness, migrant empowerment and the reconstruction of the womyn temple.


Friday, January 25, 2019

Safe Spaces to Brave Spaces: Courageous Conversations

9 a.m.–10:30 a.m.

Lecture presented by Rosetta Lee

Location: Building 8, (Mt. Constance/Olympus)

Talking about topics like gender, race, sexual orientation, and class can raise anxiety for many people, and yet we must have the conversation in our schools and our lives in order to be more inclusive and change the world for the better. What are the fears and common pitfalls that keep us from broaching courageous conversations? Gain practical skills for responding to hurtful experiences and engaging in courageous conversations.

Rosetta Lee serves Seattle Girls’ School in dual roles. SGS is an innovative school for Junior High School girls, aiming to empower women leaders and change agents and dedicating its energies to a diverse community of students and faculty, an anti-bias mission, and an integrated curriculum. As a faculty member, Rosetta teaches subjects such as science, math, technology, art, ethics, social justice, and more. As a professional outreach specialist, she designs and delivers trainings for all constituencies of the school community, as well as the local and national educational and nonprofit sectors.

 

 

50 Year Later: Dreams vs. Reality

Tuesday, January 16, 2018

MLK 50 Years Later: Unedited

Keynote address by Aaron Reader, Dean of Students, Renton Technical College

10 a.m. to 11:30 a.m.

Location: Building 7

Is Dr. King’s legacy still relevant 50 years later? In this presentation, Reader will be taking a look at a number of King’s speeches and pointing out it’s relevancy today. Through King’s speeches and spoken word poetry we will visit the uncomfortable truth, that we are not far removed from what Dr. King spent his life’s work on.

The Sacred Fight for Justice of the Duwamish Tribe

Lecture presented by Cecile Hansen, Chair of the Duwamish Tribe

1:30 p.m.–3 p.m.

Location: Building 7

Wednesday, January 17, 2018

“The Woke King”: Re-Imaging Martin Luther King, Jr.’s “Beloved Community” in a Donald Trump America

Lecture presented by PK Thompson, Theologian

11 a.m.–12:30 p.m.

Location: Building 8, (Mt. Constance/Olympus)

How should we reflect on MLK’s legacy in light of the current social, political, and religious climate in America? Dr. King’s legacy stretches beyond America’s borders and gives hope to people in the struggle for justice worldwide. King truly believed that unity, equality, and love could prevail through nonviolent means, a life passion achieved through the signing of the landmark Civil Rights Act of 1964 by Lyndon B. Johnson under much pressure from King and the Civil Rights Movement. However, as his message of love and community began to expand beyond the virtues of Christian practice within his own community; addressing issues like the Vietnam war and economic inequality, his life was suspiciously cut short by a supposed “lone shooter.” This King, the radical King, was becoming increasingly conscious that the “Dream” of an America united under one creed was, in actuality, a “Nightmare” with social, racial, class, religious, and political implications. PK Thompson probes the legacy of Dr. King in his lecture and re-imagines his ministry of the “beloved community” through the lens of radical love King introduced to the world through his campaign of non-violence, but also the radical intellectual he was becoming shortly before his martyrdom. As a person of color, Thompson asks: How would King have defined the “beloved community” in Donald Trump’s America? And how can Dr. King’s message almost 50 years later still provide glimmers of hope for the poor, oppressed, and marginalized people of America and the world?

Immigration and the American State: Considering our Past, Present, and Future

1:30 p.m.–3 p.m.

Lecture presented by Dr. Benjamin Gonzalez Faculty, Highline College

Location: Building 8, (Mt. Constance/Olympus)

In this workshop, Dr. Gonzalez O’Brien examines the history of immigration in the United States and the exclusion of most non-white groups politically and socially for most of America’s history. Despite these exclusions, the blood and sweat of immigrants and slaves built this country, yet today we continue to demonize those who come to this country in search of the same dream that brought waves of white immigrants to these shores. Examining the evolution of immigration policy, Dr. Gonzalez O’Brien links past policy to the Civil Rights Movement, immigration policy today, and the nativist backlash we have seen in recent years.

The Right to Dream

A Performance by Living Voices

6 p.m.–7:30 p.m.

Location: Building 7

The struggle and sacrifice for civil rights in America is witnessed in this compelling story. The Right to Dream recreates a student’s coming of age as an African American in Mississippi during the 1950’s and 1960’s. This program illuminates the issues of civil rights, leading audiences to understand how the fight against prejudice has shaped our history.

Thursday, January 18, 2018

When “Free Speech” is Actually its Opposite: The First Amendment, Hate Speech, and the Privilege of Platforms

Lecture presented by Dr. Shon Meckfessel, Faculty, Highline College

1:30 p.m.–3 p.m.

Location: Building 8, (Mt. Constance/Olympus)

This last year has left many wondering if there is a line between “free speech” and hate speech, and how this question relates to the first amendment of the constitution. This talk will offer some helpful ways to reframe the question from a social perspective, rather than a merely legal one. What does speech do, and how does thinking about this help us figure out what to do with speech? Whose speech gets to be free, and why is there such inconsistency in who gets to claim it? What do these questions tell us about basic limits of the rights at the foundation of our system of government? This talk will include concrete suggestions for legal and social responses to hateful speech in our institutions and communities, and how to tell the difference between free speech and its opposite.

Friday, January 19, 2018

King and the Role of Capitalism, Militarism and Racism in Achieving Peace

Lecture presented by Robert Britten, Faculty, Pierce College

10  a.m.–11:30 a.m.

Location: Building 8, (Mt. Constance/Olympus)

We will discuss how Dr. King used the issues of his time to promote change and move a nation to recognize its Promise. We will further discuss how we can use those same tools today to seize upon the opportunity of a lifetime to change the world around us.

We Lead: We Are The Ones We’ve Been Waiting For, First Friday Leadership Institute

Workshop facilitated by Mozart Guerrier, Executive Director, 21 Progress

2 p.m.–4 p.m.

Location: Building 8, (Mt. Constance/Olympus)

In this workshop, students and faculty will experiences stories of change from an established speaker and leader in social change. Gain skills and tools to strengthen how they lead personally and groups, and create a vision for the kind of world they want to create. Expect stories that inspire you to reflect and take action.

Wednesday, January 24, 2018

The Ugly Truth

Facilitated by Laura Manning, Faculty, Highline College

1 p.m.–3 p.m.

Location: Building 8, (Mt. Constance/Olympus)

Professional Development Exclusively for Highline College Faculty and Staff.

Theme: Fear, Falsehood & Freedom: Where Do We Go from Here?

Tuesday, January 17, 2017

Keynote address by Dr. Maxine Mimms, Co-founder of the Evergreen State College- Tacoma

10 a.m.–11:30 a.m.

Location: Building 7; Overflow seating in Building 8, Mt. Constance and Mt. Olympus

Fear, falsehood & freedom. In times of uncertainty, it is often difficult to find hope. How do we remain strong as a community during times of chaos? Dr. Mimms will be providing a dialogue about where we are as a country and how we can move forward as new leaders in our communities.

Keynote Reception for Dr. Maxine Mimms

12–1 p.m.

Location: Building 8, Mt. Constance and Mt. Olympus

Join the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Planning Committee as we celebrate the kickoff MLK Week 2017 and honor the legacy of Dr. Maxine Mimms’s vocation

LGBTQIA Safezones

Facilitated by Highline College’s LGBTQIA Task Force

1–3 p.m.

Location: Building 2

Safe Zones is a program identifying individuals in the school community who are safe and supportive allies of LGTBQIA students, faculty and Staff. The LGBTQIA task force has been working diligently on creating curriculum for the safe zones training that not only provides information that may seem basic or at the 101 level. Please join us and learn more about the queer community & build skills to use in our campus community.

Wednesday, January 18, 2017

You Are My Other Me: A Radical Empathy Story

Lecture presented by Luis Ortega, Founder of Storytellers for Change

10–11:30 a.m.

Location: Building 7

In Lak’Ech, “you are my other me,” a timeless Mayan precept, an action, emotion, and concept embodying empathy, solidarity, and interconnectedness, serves as the opening invitation to immerse in Luis’ storytelling. Luis shares his journey as undocumented immigrant with poems, humor, resilience, and, ultimately, in an effort to illustrate what Dr. King described on his letter from Birmingham as the “inescapable network of mutuality” that exists between human beings. After traveling to over 1,000 schools across Washington and this country speaking about the power of inclusion and empathy, Luis is convinced acknowledging the interconnectedness that exists among us is essential to addressing the social justice issues of our time. Luis’s story and message is a heartfelt, vulnerable, and moving call to practice radical empathy, to truly connect with others, and in doing so standing for and with each other in solidarity. In Lak’Ech.

Mothering the Movement: Women of the Black Freedom Movement, 1930-1980

Lecture facilitated by Dr. Derrick Brooms, Associate Professor of Sociology, University of Louisville (Watch recorded video of this lecture- 92 minutes)

1:30 p.m.–3 p.m.

Location: Building 7 (Turtle Building)

This presentation examines the active involvement of Black women during the Black Freedom Movement throughout the 20th century. In particular, the presentation highlights Black women’s integral roles and leadership and explores how they were both silenced and sidelined while sustaining the movement. Dr. Derrick Brooms is an Associate Professor of Sociology at the University of Louisville.

Thursday, January 19, 2017

Generation Return: The Art and Justice of Anida Yoeu Ali

Lecture and performance presented by Anida Yoeu Ali, Artist, Writer and Global Agitator

10–11:30 a.m.t

Location: Building 7

Artist, Writer and Global Agitator Anida Yoeu Ali will present and discuss her works and ideas about contemporary justice and its residual effects on the Cambodian American experience. Anida Yoeu Ali is actively engaged in international dialogues, community activism, and artistic resistance to multiple sites of oppression. She upholds the belief that art is a critical tool for individual and societal transformation. Ms. Ali, born in Cambodia and raised nearly all her life in Chicago, returned to live in Cambodia in 2011 after nearly 3 decades away. She is part of a returning diaspora of artists and thinkers creating narratives of Cambodia beyond war and poverty. Through performance and video works, she will present a body of work which provocatively considers the diasporic past/present contours of the Cambodian American experience.

The artistic portion of the event is imagined to be a multimedia event featuring performances and video screenings by Ms. Ali. The video works include her collaborative media lab, Studio Revolt, and their cinematic works with the Khmer Exiled American community (who constitute the deported diaspora).

Empty Applause, A Conversation On Maintaining Your Faith in Social Justice Activism

Panel featuring Rev. Laverne Hall, Rev. Harriet Walden, Imam Hussam Rabi & Natasha Burrowes

1:30 p.m.–3 p.m.

Location: Building 7 (Turtle Building)

From slave rebellions, to the civil rights movement of the mid-twentieth century, to the protection of sacred land at Standing Rock today, faith communities play a vital role in the struggle for freedom for the oppressed in the United States. However, often times the sacrifices made by activists go unnoticed. As many communities of faith continue the struggle for freedom and self-determination in to the twenty first century, the question of how one remains healthy while committed to social justice activism is ever important for activists to address. Join our panelist in a conversation about faith, healing, and activism.

Friday, January 20, 2017

Black Education Matters: Disrupting Fear and Falsehood and Educating for Freedom

Lecture facilitated by Jesse Hagopian, Author, History Teacher and Black Student Union Co-Advisor at Garfield High School (Watch recorded video of this lecture-93 minutes)

9–10:30 a.m.

Location: Building 7

The election of the Donald Trump is an open assault on oppressed people everywhere. Yet while Trump’s election signals an escalation of the attack–on women, LGBTQ people, people of color, Muslims, working people, and more—inequality and oppression have been mainstays of our society. Now is the time to draw lessons from Martin Luther King, Jr. and the great social movements of the 1960s and 70s with the aim of transforming the education system and the broader society to resist fear and falsehood and struggle for freedom.

First Friday Leadership Institute

Workshop facilitated by Natasha Burrowes, Spiritual director, educator and writer

2–4 p.m.

Location: Highline Student Union- Mt. Constance & Mt Olympus

In 1967, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s last book before he was assassinated was titled “Where Do We Go From Here: Chaos or Community?” This masterpiece was a call to leadership and community that is as relevant today as it was 50 years ago. In this workshop, we will probe the wisdom and words of Dr. King through this book and reflect on what it means for our generation experiencing our own historical and cultural moment. We also will reflect on what concepts like love, truth, and freedom mean for ourselves and our community and explore effective ways to usher those values into an uncertain future as leaders.

Co-sponsored by the First Fridays Leadership Institute.

MLK Week is sponsored by Multicultural Affairs, Center for Leadership and Service, Learning and Teaching Center, LGBTQIA Task Force, Between the Lines Book Club, Whites on White, and AANAPISI.

2017 MLK Week Committee Members

  • Dr. Darryl Brice
  • Jodi White
  • Dominique Austin
  • Iesha Valencia
  • Osuré Brown
  • Billy Chandler
  • Aaron Modica
  • Oussama Alkahilili
  • Nestor Enguerra
  • Bopha Cheng
  • Michael Tuncap
  • Bevin Taylor
  • Doris Martinez (Chair)

Theme: Justice: Beyond A Dream

Monday, January 18, 2016

Northwest African American Museum

Field trip to NAAM

11:30 a.m.–3:30 p.m.

Join us in remembrance of the Civil Rights Movement and the American icon Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. by visiting the Northwest African American Museum. Let us celebrate diversity with a look back to our region’s work on social justice and towards peace and inclusion.

Spaces are limited and transportation will be provided for Highline Students from Highline. If you are interested, please email mca@highline.edu.

Tuesday, January 19 2016

You are So Brave

Performance by Kay Barrett

10–11:30 a.m.

Location: Building 7; Overflow seating in Building 8, Mt. Constance and Mt. Olympus

This performance harnesses political poetic storytelling with elements of spoken word and theatre. Informed by hip-hop and the jazz aesthetic, Kay intimately strips down pretense, and engages love and an examination of the world. As a cultural worker, Kay aims to question notions of desirability, single-issue identity, and what exactly is mainstream normal. Themes explored during the performance include intersecting identities in struggle with racism, misogyny, cissexism, migration, death/loss, queer love, migration, and disability.

14: Dred Scott, Wong Kim Ark, & Vanessa Lopez

Film screening followed by Q&A session with the director, Anne Galisky

1:30 p.m.–3:30 p.m.

Location: Building 7 (Turtle Building)

The documentary film 14: Dred Scott, Wong Kim Ark & Vanessa Lopez explores the recurring question about who has the right to be an American citizen. 14 examines the citizenship clause of the 14th Amendment through compelling personal stories and expertly-told history. Under the Fourteenth Amendment, “All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside.”

Wednesday, January 20, 2016

What does it mean to be white in a society that proclaims race meaningless yet is deeply divided by race?

Lecture presented by Dr. Robin DiAngelo

10–11:30 a.m.

Location: Building 7; Overflow seating in Building 8, Mt. Constance and Mt. Olympus

What does it mean to be white in a society that proclaims race meaningless yet is deeply divided by race? Dr. DiAngelo will describe the way race shapes the lives of White people, explain what makes racism so hard for White people to see, and identify common White racial patterns that prevent us from moving towards greater racial equity. Weaving information, analysis, stories, images, and familiar examples, she provides the framework needed to develop white racial literacy. While the focus is on patterns of whiteness, the framework may also be useful to people of color in their navigation of these patterns.

Co-sponsored by Whites on White

Liberation Shows Up!

Workshop presented by Kay Barrett

1:30–3 p.m.

Location: Building 8, Mt. Constance/Mt. Olympus

This performance dares us to understand and adore our whole selves. Being Disabled, Sick, Chronically Ill, Deaf, and/or being Brilliant/Crazy are often understood as flawed. Also as Transgender & Queer People of Color you can be impacted by displacement and migration. Ultimately, we survive in struggles that are alienated and dehumanized. Our contributions deserve visibility. The truth is, we face all struggles simultaneously! Paying homage to audre lorde: “I do not believe in single-issue politics, because we do not live single-issue lives,” avenues of critical intersections as brown, poor, trans, im/migrant, disabled, and “other” are explored. How do competition and respectability politics impose oppression in our actions, our lives? How do we embrace a politic that doesn’t isolate or accommodate, but engages everyday movements to show up for those who are affected & not talked about? How can we come to a place of honoring ourselves fully? You are invited to embrace a sexy, complicated, sacred, powerful, and amazing lineage via performance. To Sick & Disabled Queer/Transgender Indigenous or People of Color (SDQTIPOC) daily survival!

Thursday, January 21, 2016

Between Civil Rights and Black Power, James Baldwin’s prophetic vision “To End the Racial Nightmare, and Achieve Our Country

Lecture presented by Dr. Michael Hale

9–10:30 a.m.

Location: Building 7

As we celebrate the 50th anniversaries of many landmark civil rights victories, several scholars and activists have tried to understand the explosive conflict between the non-violent Civil Rights movement inspired by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr and the militant Black Power movement inspired by Malcolm X. It will be my argument that James Baldwin had a stunningly prophetic understanding of this conflict that allowed him to develop a creative synthesis of both Civil Rights and Black Power principles.

The chant of “black lives matter” heard across our county indicates that there is no better time for students, faculty, staff, and community members to discuss James Baldwin. The Nation magazine recently argued “There is probably no other writer, living or deceased, who has diagnosed the problems of American racism better than Baldwin.” He did this by combining a breath-taking eloquence with an uncanny power of observation brought together in a powerful moral argument designed, as he argued in The Fire Next Time, “to end the racial nightmare, and achieve our country, and change the history of the world.

The Big Move: A Panel on Gentrification in King County

Gentrification Panel

Panel Facilitated by: Barbara Talkington, Multicultural Affairs Leadership Adviser

11 a.m.–12:30 p.m.

Location: Building 7

Community are shifting in Seattle leading to major changes impacting Highline Students. Please join us to learn about what gentrification is, how gentrification in Seattle is impacting our communities in South King County, and why it is happening through a panel of community activists and servant leaders.

Friday, January 22, 2016

University of Washington Black Student Union Founding Members Luncheon

Luncheon facilitated by Osure Brown

Lecture: 11:30 a.m.–1 p.m.

Location: Building 8, Mt. Constance/Mt. Olympus

Student movements have often served as the catalyst for social change. Please join us for a special luncheon with historic founding members of University of Washington Black Student Union as they share their journey through the 1960’s, including their involvement in political movements such as the Civil Rights Movement and the importance of allyship in pursuing justice.

First Friday Leadership Institute: Is the Washington State Budget Racist?

A workshop with One America’s Carly Brook

2–4 p.m.

Location: Highline Student Union- Mt. Constance & Mt Olympus

This interactive workshop delves into the not so sexy, but critical, issue of Washington State’s Regressive Revenue/Tax system. How have racist state policies transferred from explicit discrimination in Washington to economic. institutionalized racism? This workshop examines the Washington State Revenue system as one of the policies most singlehandedly responsible for economic and racial oppression in our state. Beginning with the short history of how we’ve gotten to the point where our state is the most regressive in our taxes and discussing the impact of the upside down tax structure in Washington, this presentation will connect the issues of institutional racism and revenue through story sharing, popular education and presentation.

Co-sponsored by the First Fridays Leadership Institute.

Tuesday, January 26, 2016

White Fragility

Workshop facilitated by Dr. Robin DiAngelo

2–4 p.m.

Location: Building 8, Mt. Constance/Mt. Olympus

White people in the U.S. live in a racially insular social environment. Because our racial perspectives are so rarely challenged within this environment, we have not had to develop the stamina needed to tolerate racial stress. I term this lack of stamina “White Fragility.” When we are challenged in cross-racial interactions, White Fragility triggers a range of defensive moves including: argumentation, invalidation, silence, withdrawal and claims of being “attacked” and “unsafe.” While these moves are effective at blocking the challenge and regaining our racial equilibrium, they are also damaging to people of color and prevent us from developing the skills we need to create a racially just society. This session will overview White Fragility and provide the perspectives needed for more constructive cross-racial interactions. While the focus is on patterns of whiteness, the framework may also be useful to people of color in their navigation of these patterns.

Co-sponsored by Whites on White

MLK Week is sponsored by Multicultural Affairs, Center for Leadership and Service, Inter-cultural Center, Whites on White, and Learning and Teaching Center.

2016 MLK Week Committee Members

  • Doris Martinez (Chair)
  • Stephanie Ojeda-Espinoza
  • Kimberly Hollins
  • Darryl Brice
  • Jodi White
  • Barbara Talkington
  • Noory Kim
  • Natorius Ezell
  • Susie Chavez

Theme: Many Faces: Responsibility, Resistance & Reality

Friday, January 9, 2015

Flick Fridays Showing: “The Color of Fear”

10:00 a.m.–12:30 p.m.

Location: Highline Student Union- Inter-Cultural Center (08-204)

The Color of Fear examines the pain and anguish that racism has caused in the lives of North American men of Asian, European, Latin and African descent. Out of their confrontations and struggles to understand and trust each other emerges an emotional and insightful portrayal into the type of dialogue most of us fear, but hope will happen sometime in our lifetime.

Come see this film and meet the director Lee Mun Wah during our MLK Week Celebration. Look below for more info and other events happening during MLK week.

Co-sponsored by the Inter-cultural Center

Friday, January 16, 2015

Flick Fridays Showing: “If These Halls Could Talk”

10:00 a.m.–12:30 p.m.

Location: Highline Student Union- Inter-Cultural Center (08-204)

If our halls could talk, what would they say about the alarming rates of students and faculty of color leaving our colleges? What would our students say it is like to be a minority student at a predominantly white campus? Are faculty and staff prepared for the influx of students from different backgrounds? When diversity-related conflicts arise on the campus and in the classroom, are administrators and teachers prepared to handle them? In this electrifying new film, director Lee Mun Wah brings together eleven college students to discuss these dynamic issues. Their stories are starkly emotional and raw, filled with incredible tenderness and pain.

Come see this film and meet the director Lee Mun Wah during our MLK Week Celebration. Look below for more info and other events happening during MLK week.

Co-sponsored by the Inter-cultural Center

Tuesday, January 20, 2015

Called Back to Greater Purpose

Lecture presented by Rabbi Ted Falcon, Imam Jamal Rahman and Rev. Dave Brown

10 a.m.–11:30 a.m.

Location: Building 7

The Interfaith Amigos, Rabbi Ted Falcon, Rev. Dave Brown, and Imam Jamal Rahman present “Called Back to Greater Purpose.” They will focus on some of the greatest social justice teachings of our faith traditions, and how and why we have so often strayed from them. The Amigos will honor those who called us back to greater purpose and consider how their traditions view violence. The Interfaith Amigos address the usual taboos of interfaith dialogue in order to create a more authentic conversation. They believe that spirituality is one of the foundations that can support us acting together to resolve some of the most pressing social and environmental issues of our time.

Middle East Crisis and Islamophobia

Lecture presented by Sam Alkhalili, BTECH

12:00 p.m.–1:00 p.m.

Location: Building 2

This lecture will explore the origins of ISIS/ISIL, how they developed, and why they do not represent Muslims and Islam. It will also explore the negative impacts of Islamophobia. Sam Alkhalili is the Instructor and Coordinator of the BTECH Department, President of Arab Alliance of Chamber Commerce of Washington State, executive board member of Arab Center of Washington State, and an organizer for United Muslims of Washington State.

Wednesday, January 21, 2015

Art of Social Activism 1967–2014

Lecture presented by Emory Douglas

Lecture: 11:00 a.m.–11:50 a.m., Q&A: 11:50 a.m.–12:30 p.m.

Location: Building 7

Emory Douglas was politically involved as Revolutionary Artist and Minister of Culture for the Black Panther party, from 1967 until the early 1980’s. Douglas’ art and design concepts were always seen on the front and back pages of the Black Panther Newspaper, reflecting the politics of the Black Panther Party and the concerns of the community. Douglas will facilitate a power point retrospective presentation giving insight and contexts behind many of the social and political graphics that he created with the Black Panther Party (1967-1980). He will also include many contemporary graphics as well as a few related to exhibitions, travels and artistic collaborations.

Reception with Emory Douglas

12:30 p.m.–1:30 p.m., Bldg. 2

Come join us and get an opportunity to meet Emory Douglas, we will be providing some light refreshments and hors d’oeuvres.

Ferguson panel

Panel Facilitated by: Dr. Shon Meckfessel, English and Dr. Darryl Brice, Sociology

1:30 p.m.–3:30 p.m.

Location: Building 7

Come join us in community as we host a panel to share dialogue and have a discussion around the events in Ferguson, Missouri and how these events have and are continuing to affect our nation. We will be reflecting on these issues and exlplore racism in our criminal justice system. Our panelists will represent law enforcement officials, activists, and community leaders.

Thursday, January 22nd 2015

A Promise Still to Keep

Lecture presented by Lee Mun Wah

Lecture: 11–11:50 a.m., Q&A: 11:50 a.m.–12:30 p.m.

Location: Building 7

As students are about to graduate into the world to pursue their dreams and hopes, what will be their mark on the world? What will they be remembered for? These are the questions that have lingered in the halls of each generation and echoed in the words of Martin Luther King, Jr. when he made his famous speech, “I Have a Dream”. In that speech heard around the world, he called on this country to make good on its promises that were embedded in the Bill of Rights and the United States Constitution.

As students enter into a new era, how will they be remembered? Will they pursue their private dreams or will they give back to their communities? Will they help those less fortunate? Will they fight for justice and against poverty and hunger? Will they work towards saving and preserving our environment or will they be one more generation that neglects its responsibility and depletes its resources? These are the questions and these are the challenges that each person must decide upon as they become the next generation. Will they remember the words of those who tried to make a difference – that there is a promise still to keep.

Walking Each Other Home: Finding Our Way Through Difficult Conversations About Race

A workshop with Lee Mun Wah

1:30 p.m.–3:30 p.m.

Location: Highline Student Union- Mt. Constance & Mt Olympus

Many discussions around diversity issues are bound to have communication issues and possibilities for some form of conflict or misunderstanding. The Buddhists say that conflict is both an opportunity and a sign of danger. In our experience, conflicts can often be an opportunity for growth and a time for deeper understandings to take place. In this very dynamic and exciting seminar we will explore a myriad of techniques to more effectively mediate diversity conflicts and misunderstandings. We will be using Lee Mun Wah’s “The Art of Mindful Facilitation” and various other communication techniques that will help in de-escalating a conflict within minutes. Through the use of role plays, personal stories, films, listening exercises, and mindfully responding techniques, participants will learn facilitation and inquiry techniques normally reserved for advanced trainers.

Friday, January 23, 2015

Veterans For Peace

Panel facilitated by Michael R. Dedrick of Veterans for Peace

10:00 a.m.–11:30 a.m.

Location: Building 2

Veterans for Peace is a global organization of military veterans and allies whose collective efforts are to build a culture of peace. Veterans on this panel will speak to their experiences and share their perspectives on war. They will not only explore the causes and costs of wars, but will also share their thoughts on nonviolence.

Co-sponsored by Veterans Services.

Media Literacy and Activism Workshop

Presented by Susan Landgraf, English Department and Terryl Ross, University of Washington-Bothell

2–4 p.m.

Location: Highline Student Union- Mt. Constance/Mt. Olympus

Learn methods on how to understand current social issues presented through media with a critical lens. Participants will learn how to take action for social change through social media and activism.

Co-sponsored by the First Fridays Leadership Institute.

MLK Week is sponsored by Multicultural Affairs, Center for Leadership and Service, Inter-cultural Center, Veterans Services, and the Learning & Teaching Center.

2015 MLK Week Planning Committee Members

  • Natasha Burrowes (Chair)
  • Bob Baugher
  • Darryl Brice
  • Jodi White
  • Doris Martinez
  • Barbara Talkington
  • Noory Kim
  • Sydney Saari
  • Hasna Hussein
  • Shon Meckfessel
  • Teela Foxworth
  • Brian Galloway
  • Susan Landgraf

Theme: Radical Love: Love as Action”

Tuesday, January 21, 2014

Radical Love: Love as Action and Sacred Activism

A lecture by Rev. Harriett Walden

9–9:50 a.m.

Location: Building 7

What does love look like in public? This lecture will explore the roots of radical love and what activism looks like as a spiritual practice. Rev. Harriett Walden has been a local activist in Seattle for over 20 years. She co-founded an organization called Mothers for Police Accountability to work around justice issues for the community and now serves as a member of the Seattle Community Police Commission.

Empire Way: Refashioning Resistance

A workshop presented by Geo/Prometheus Brown of Blue Scholars

12:10–1:13 p.m.

Location: Mt. Constance Room, Highline Student Union

This workshop is a visual and lyrical analysis of the language of geography surrounding Seattle’s Martin Luther King, Jr. Way. Prometheus Brown aka Geo Quibuyen is a Cali-born, Hawaii-raised, Seattle-based rapper with a camera. He attended the University of Washington, where he met Sabzi to form the acclaimed Seattle hip-hop duo Blue Scholars in 2002. Geo has toured all over North America, being the first Filipino rapper to rap in front of many crowds.

Meet-n-Greet with Geo of Blue Scholars

1:30–2 p.m.

Location: Inter-Cultural Center, Highline Student Union

Youth & Student Movements

Presented by Anakbayan Seattle

5:30–7:00 p.m.

Building 7

Through studying past youth and student movements we hope to encourage all youth and students to participate in changing their communities. Protesting, rising up for change, demanding the protection of our rights as youth of color is part of a long tradition of youth and Filipinos (with a highlight on First Quarter Storm and student organizing during the Marcos era) before us. Our workshop hopes to highlight the necessity of our participation, as youth and students, in building a new tomorrow. http://anakbayan.org/

Wednesday, January 22, 2014

Rev. Dr. Bernard Lafayette, Jr.

Discussion with Dr. Lafayette

10–11:30 a.m.

Location: Building 7, overflow seating in Mt. Constance Room, Highline Student Union

The Rev. Dr. Lafayette, an ordained minister, is a longtime civil rights activist, organizer, and an authority on nonviolent social change. He co-founded the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) in 1960, and he was a core leader of the civil rights movement in Nashville, TN, in 1960 and in Selma, AL, in 1965. He directed the Alabama Voter Registration Project in 1962, and he was appointed by Martin Luther King, Jr. to be national program administrator for the Southern Christian Leadership Conference and national coordinator of the 1968 Poor People’s Campaign. He completed a doctorate in Education at Harvard University and for several years was the Director of the Center for Nonviolence and Peace Studies at the University of Rhode Island. He currently teaches at Emory University and conducts nonviolent workshops worldwide.

Reception and Book Signing with Rev. Dr. Bernard Lafayette, Jr.

12–1 p.m.

Location: Mt. Skokomish Room, Highline Student Union

Nonviolence Workshop

Presented by Rev. Dr. Bernard Lafayette, Jr.

1:30–3 p.m.

Location: Mt. Constance Room, Highline Student Union

Learn about the strategy and philosophy of nonviolence from one of the original freedom riders of the civil rights movement, Rev. Dr. Bernard Lafayette. The workshop will explore how nonviolence was used to end racial segregation in the 60’s and how nonviolence can be a positive strategy for social change today.

Thursday, January 23, 2014

Critical Connections: The Role of Love in Social Change

Workshop presented by Christine Cruz Guiao and April Nishimura of Zenyu

9-9:50 a.m.

Location: Mt. Constance Room, Highline Student Union

This workshop will explore the origins of “critical mass” ideology and the unsustainable culture of modern social change movements, which are heavily impacted and shaped by materialistic, individualistic dominant-culture norms and values. Through real-life examples, we will explore a new theory called emergence that suggests that true social change happens through the critical connections we make in authentic relationship. Christine Cruz Guiao and April Nishimura are co-founders of Zenyu, a grassroots, multicultural organization that cultivates the holistic well-being and leadership of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer or Inquiring (LGBTQI) People of Color through meditation classes, wilderness excursions, and spiritual retreats. Zenyu supports long-term social change by developing solution-centered leadership based on compassion, mindfulness and co-operation among marginalized communities.

Roots of “isms”: Rethinking Racial and Gender Justice

Lecture by Dr. Andrea Smith

11 a.m.-12:30 p.m.

Location: Building 7

This lecture will focus on how social movements often presume that all people of color are equally and similarly oppressed and that gender is unrelated to race. These assumptions contribute to in-fighting and dysfunctional organizing practices. This session will examine how we can build more effective racial struggles by understanding the multiple ways racism operates in our society. We will also focus on the importance of developing a strong framework around gender in order to build effective racial justice movements.

Organizing for Justice in the Academic Industrial Complex

Professional Development Workshop with Dr. Andrea Smith

1:30–3 p.m.

Location: Building 2

This workshop will address both the possibilities and contradictions of social justice organizing within the Academic Industrial Complex (AIC). How does the AIC structurally inhibit social justice organizing possibilities and co-opt movements for social change? How can we strategically organize given these contradictions? And how we can we do so without losing our jobs?

Friday, January 24, 2014

The Growing Divide

Workshop presented by United for a Fair Economy

10–11:50 a.m.

Location: Mt. Constance Room, Highline Student Union

Over 35,000 people across the nation have participated in this highly acclaimed workshop. This workshop reviews recent changes in U.S. income and wealth distribution and examines policies—or “rule changes”—that have fueled inequality. This workshop lays out a range of strategic initiatives and specific and immediate steps we can take to reverse the growing gap between the rich and everyone else. United for a Fair Economy (UFE) is a nonprofit organization based out of Boston, MA that raises awareness that concentrated wealth and power undermine the economy, corrupt democracy, deepen the racial divide, and tear communities apart. UFE supports and helps build social movements for greater equality.

Closing the Racial Wealth Divide

Workshop presented by United for a Fair Economy

1:20–3 p.m.

Mt. Constance Room, Highline Student Union

This workshop helps participants critically examine the way in which race shapes the distribution of resources and privilege in the U.S. We use several participatory activities and dialogue to analyze the role of government in supporting (for people of European descent) or blocking (for people of color) the accumulation of assets and, in effect, helped create economic apartheid in the U.S. The workshop also reviews strategies, campaigns, and actions that will help close the racial wealth divide and promote create greater economic equality in general.

Recommended Reading List

Building 25

Highline College Library presents a recommended reading/viewing list for the month of January to celebrate the life of Martin Luther King Jr. and the American civil rights movement, including books, videos, ebooks and websites. Come to see what Highline Community College Library has to offer by browsing our recommended reading list. You can also find these materials on our Recommended Reading display rack on the Plaza Level of the library. Please borrow and enjoy them!

MLK Week is sponsored by Multicultural Affairs, Center for Leadership & Service, Learning and Teaching Center.

Theme: Maladjusted to Injustice: King’s Vision, Our Mission”

Friday, January 18, 2013

Only when it is Dark Enough Can You See the Stars: King’s Relevance and Social Justice

Chuck D of Public Enemy and Dr. Gaye Theresa Johnson, University of CA-Santa Barbara

10–11:30 a.m., lecture and Q&A

12–1 p.m., reception

As the founder of Public Enemy, Chuck D, is one of the most colossal figures in the history of hip-hop, not to mention its most respected intellectual. As an artist and activist, he redefined hip-hop as music with a message. Dr. Gaye Theresa Johnson is Associate Professor of Black Studies with affiliations in the Departments of History and Chicana/o Studies at the University of California at Santa Barbara. Her areas of expertise are 20th century U.S. history, race and racism; and cultural history with an emphasis on music.

Co-sponsored with Freshest Roots

Monday, January 21, 2013

Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Holiday

Tuesday, January 22, 2013

Global Liberation Movements: A panel discussion

11–12:03 p.m.

This panel will explore the intersections of current movements for justice and human rights on a global scale. Panelists will represent current justice movements in Israel, Congo, Chile and the United States.

Inter-Cultural Center Grand Opening

9 a.m.–4 p.m., Grand Opening Celebration 1:30–2:30 p.m.

Come join us to celebrate the move of the Inter-Cultural Center into a new space on the 2nd floor of the Highline Student Union. Get a tour, hear from campus leaders, and learn about new initiatives emerging from the center this year.

Wednesday, January 23, 2013

Precious Knowledge: A film showing

11-12:03 p.m.

Precious Knowledge portrays one of the final years of the highly successful but controversial Mexican American Studies Program at Tucson High School. The program was a national model of educational success – 93 percent of its enrolled students graduating from high school and 85 percent going on to attend college, bucking a statewide trend that saw only 48 percent of Latino students graduating at all. The program taught Mexican and American history, as well as Central and South American literature and culture. In 2011 Arizona lawmakers passed a bill giving unilateral power to the state superintendent of schools to abolish ethnic studies classes. The fight to restore ethnic studies continues in Arizona and in other states, as education continues to adapt to a changing population.

History of Ethnic Studies at Highline College: A panel discussion

12:10–1:13p.m.

Learn about the history and evolution of Ethnic Studies at Highline and engage in a discussion with faculty, staff and students about the importance and impact of Ethnic Studies in teaching and learning. Featured panelists include Allison Green, Mira Shimabukuro, and Highline students.

Thursday, January 23, 2013

Social Psychology and Oppression

Lecture with Dr. Mark Bolden, Trinity University

12:10–1:13p.m.

This lecture will explore the psychological impacts on human beings living in social systems that create inequities and oppressive conditions. Dr. Mark A. Bolden is the Assistant Professor of Counseling at Trinity University. He earned his B.A. in Psychology with a minor in African American Studies at Seton Hall University. He earned his M.Ed. in Counseling Psychology at Seton Hall, and his Ph.D. in Counseling Psychology at Howard University.

King’s Vision, Our Mission: A student discussion

1:30–2:30 p.m.

Join a student-led discussion that will look at the history and wisdom of the civil rights movement and explore what it means for students today.

Co-sponsored with the Inter-Cultural Center and Student Government

Friday, January 24, 2013

Roy Willis

10–11:30 a.m., lecture and Q&A

12–1 p.m., reception

Roy Willis enrolled at the University of Virginia in 1959 and became the first African American graduate of the University of Virginia, College of Arts and Sciences with a degree in chemistry. He will speak to his experience in desegregating higher education during the 1960s. Willis also enrolled at Harvard Business School in 1967 and earned a MBA in 1969 with a special interest in urban, economic and international develop.m.ent. While at Harvard, he co-founded the Harvard Business School/African American Student Union to recruit and financially assist students who were admitted to the MBA program.

MLK Week is sponsored by Multicultural Affairs, Center for Leadership & Service, Learning and Teaching Center, and Whites on White.

2013 MLK Week Planning Committee Members

  • Natasha Burrowes, Committee Chair
  • Darryl Brice, Sociology
  • Jennifer Joseph-Charles, Gateway to College
  • DeLon Lewis, Intercultural Center
  • Sheree Paige, Student leader
  • Robyn Richins, Women’s Programs
  • Mira Shimabukuro, English
  • Nathan Tran, Student leader
  • Jodi White, Education
  • Sunny Ybarra, Multicultural Affairs/Running Start

Theme: 50 years of Resistance: Racism, Materialism, and Militarism Then and Now

Due to adverse weather condition, programs for January 18–20 were cancelled.

Tuesday, January 17, 2012

Aaron Dixon

9–9:50 a.m. Lecture and Q&A

Location: Highline Student Union, Bldg. 8-Mt. Constance Room

As an adolescent, Aaron Dixon marched with Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. to end housing discrimination in Seattle, was one of the first volunteers to participate in the busing program to integrate schools and was Captain of the Seattle Chapter Black Panther Party. Dixon also ran for Senate in the November 2006 Washington State elections and has been an activist in the Seattle Area for many years.

Got My Mind Made Up: Women of the Black Freedom Movement, 1940–1975

Lecture by Dr. Derrick Brooms, Prairie State College

10–10:50 a.m.

Location: Building 7

In spite of their highly valuable roles in the Black freedom movement, the great majority of Black women remain as invisible, unsung heroes and leaders. Framed by theoretical understandings of Black Feminist Thought, this presentation will discuss the integral role of Black women in the modern Black freedom movement. Dr. Derrick Brooms is the Assistant Professor of Sociology at Prairie State College located in Illinois.

MLK Film Series: Un Poquito de Tanta Verdad (A Little Bit of So Much Truth)

2–4 p.m.

Location: Highline Student Union, Bldg. 8-310, Leadership Resource Room

In the summer of 2006, a broad-based, non-violent, popular uprising exploded in the southern Mexican state of Oaxaca. Some compared it to the Paris Commune, while others called it the first Latin American revolution of the 21st century. But it was the people’s use of the media that truly made history in Oaxaca.

Wednesday, January 18, 2012

Rev. Samuel Billy Kyles

10–10:50 a.m. Lecture, 11–11:30 Q&A

Location: Building 7

A longtime leader in the civil rights movement, Kyles has been pastor of the Monumental Baptist Church in Memphis, Tennessee since 1959. After Memphis sanitation workers went on strike in February 1968 due to low wages and inhumane working conditions, Kyles helped to form and lead the effort to gain community support for the striking workers. Their success resulted in Dr. King coming to Memphis and leading a major march that ended uncharacteristically in violence. The last hour of Dr. King’s life was spent with Kyles and Rev. Ralph Abernathy in his room at the Lorraine Motel. Rev. Abernathy has since passed on, leaving Kyles as the only living person that actually spent the last hour of Dr. King’s life with him.

Emerging Leaders Luncheon with Rev. Samuel Billy Kyles

12–1:30 p.m.

MLK Film Series: Soundtrack for a Revolution

2–4 p.m.

Highline Student Union, Bldg. 8-310, Leadership Resource Room

Soundtrack for a Revolution tells the story of the American civil rights movement through its powerful music -the freedom songs protesters sang on picket lines, in mass meetings, in paddy wagons, and in jail cells as they fought for justice and equality

Thursday, January 19, 2012

Militarism: A Veteran’s Voice

A panel discussion facilitated by Bob Baugher, Psychology Department

10–10:50 a.m.

Location: Building 7

This panel will explore the human experience and the politics of war from the perspectives of veterans. The panel will feature Highline students who have served in wars that have taken place in Vietnam, Iraq and Afghanistan.

MLK Film Series: Restrepo

2–4 p.m.

Highline Student Union, Bldg. 8-310, Leadership Resource Room

RESTREPO is a feature-length documentary that chronicles the deployment of a platoon of U.S. soldiers in Afghanistan’s Korengal Valley. The movie focuses on a remote 15-man outpost, “Restrepo,” named after a platoon medic who was killed in action. It was considered one of the most dangerous postings in the U.S. military.

Friday, January 20, 2012

Artists Rising: A MLK spoken word event

10 a.m.–12 p.m., 10–10:50 a.m.: Spoken word performances, 11–12 p.m.: Poetry writing workshop facilitated by Aaron Reader

Location: Building 7

Featuring local poets and student poets, this event will honor 50 years of resistance by exploring the giant triplets of racism, militarism and materialism that Dr. King spoke to in his 1967 speech, Beyond Vietnam: A Time to Break Silence. Workshop will be facilitated by Aaron Reader, local spoken word poet.

Co-sponsored by Freshest Roots

MLK Film Series: The One Percent

Sponsored by Whites on White and Movie Fridays

12:30 p.m.–2:30 p.m.

Location: Building 7

This 80-minute documentary focuses on the growing “wealth gap” in America, as seen through the eyes of filmmaker Jamie Johnson, a 27-year-old heir to the Johnson & Johnson pharmaceutical fortune. Johnson, who cut his film teeth at NYU and made the Emmy®-nominated 2003 HBO documentary Born Rich, here sets his sights on exploring the political, moral and emotional rationale that enables a tiny percentage of Americans – the one percent – to control nearly half the wealth of the entire United States.

On-going events

We are the 99% Display

Starting Wednesday

Location: Highline Student Union (outside of the bistro)

Take your picture and write your story about how the economy is affecting you.

Street Theater

Various times and locations

Based on the philosophy and structure of Theater of the Oppressed, a troop of Highline students will present mini plays and dramatic pieces throughout the week at random locations on campus to explore issues of oppression and social justice.

Sponsored by Center for Leadership & Service, Multicultural Services and the Learning & Teaching Center.

2012 MLK Week Committee Members

  • Natasha Burrowes, Chair
  • Christa Forlemu
  • Darryl Brice
  • Gerald Jackson
  • Jimmy Samael
  • Jodi White
  • Jose Orozco-Delgado
  • Noory Kim
  • Rashaad Norris
  • Thuy Nguyen
  • Yoshiko Harden

Theme: Fear and Logic in a Post-Civil Rights Era

Tuesday, January 18, 2011

Radical Politics of MLK

A lecture by Dr. Jared Ball, Morgan State University

9–9:50 a.m.

Location: Building 7

MLK was most famous for his “I Have a Dream” speech, but what did he believe beyond “the dream”? Come explore the radical politics of MLK and why he was considered such a controversial figure during his time. Dr. Jared Ball is an assistant professor of Communication Studies at Morgan State University and a journalist in Washington, DC. http://www.voxunion.com/?p=207

Boondock’s and Social Justice

A lecture by Dr. Jared Ball and Dr. Mark Bolden

10–11:30 a.m.

Location: Building 7

Come hear how this award winning comic strip turned animation uses comedy, satire and art to explore issues of social justice and equity.

Wednesday, January 19, 2011

Empowering Ourselves for Positive Change

A lecture by Velma Veloria

9–9:50 a.m.

Location: Building 7

Velma Veloria was the first Filipina elected to state legislature in the United States and served in the Washington State Legislature from 1992-2004. She spent much of her life as a community activist and transitioned into the political arena to continue working for social justice and equity. Velma will speak to her perspective on how we can be solutions to such large systemic problems of inequality.

America: A Culture of Fear?

Facilitated by Shaquita Pressley, Speaker of the Caucus(ASHCC)

2–3 p.m.

Location: Highline Student Union-Leadership Resource Room, Building 8, Room 302

Come join us for a caucus discussion hosted by the Associated Students of Highline Community College(ASHCC) caucus program. This discussion will explore the culture of fear in America and the impacts it has on policy, community and social change.

Thursday, January 20, 2011

Education for Democracy: School Reform and the Legacy of Martin Luther King

A lecture by Bill Ayers, Distinguished Professor of Education, University of Illinois at Chicago

Lecture 11–11:50 a.m., Question and answer session 12–12:30 p.m.

Location: Highline Student Union-Mt. Constance/Mt. Olympus Room, Building 8

Most commentary on today’s school reform battles describe two major camps: “the free-market reformers,” people who believe that competition, choice, and incentives must lead the charge to improve failing schools; the second, characterized as “the liberal traditionalists,” are those who rally around teachers’ unions and education schools—the “marketeers” vs. the “do-nothings.” That strangled formulation ignores a vast territory and leaves out a wild range of approaches and actors, most notably, those who argue, as John Dewey did, that in a vibrant and participatory democracy, whatever the wisest and most privileged parents want for their children must serve as the baseline for what the broader community deems essential for all of its children. Any other approach if acted upon, destroys democracy.

9500 Liberty

Film viewing and discussion

1–3 p.m.

Location: Building 7

A documentary highlighting the immigration debate through the eyes of a community in Prince William County, Virginia. Followed by a post-film discussion. http://www.9500liberty.com/

Friday, January 21, 2011

Reclaiming Martin Luther King’s Vision of Social and Economic Justice

A lecture by Dr. Michael Honey, University of Washington-Tacoma

Lecture 10–10:50am, Book Signing 11–11:30 a.m.

Location: Building 7

Dr. Michael Honey, Fred and Dorothy Haley Professor of Humanities at the University of Washington, Tacoma, has published three award-winning books of labor and civil rights history. Now, his new edited book of King’s speeches, “All Labor Has Dignity,” highlights a different aspect of King’s ministry: his service to the working-class and poor left out of the sunlight of opportunity in American capitalism. Join Professor Honey in reconsidering King’s legacy and renewing his call for activism.

Skills for Anti-Oppression: Beyond Inclusion, Beyond Empowerment model

A workshop by Dr. Leticia Nieto, St. Martin’s University

12–2 p.m.

Location: Highline Student Union-Mt. Constance/Mt. Olympus Room Building 8

In the work of liberation and social change, analysis and considered action promote sustainable peace and justice. This brief overview will introduce participants to skills-based approaches that support organic development of anti-oppression in individuals. Resisting oppression requires that everyone -both those who benefit and those who are restricted- grow increasingly capable in how to deal with moment-to-moment forms of social inequality. This event will be highly interactive. Dr. Nieto has 20 years of experience in teaching, psychotherapy, performance, training, and consultation. She specializes in expressive arts therapy (with a focus on therapeutic enactment), motivation/creativity, diversity issues, and anti-oppression.

Sponsored by the Learning and Teaching Center

Martin Luther King, Jr. Week is sponsored by Student Programs-Center for Leadership and Service, Multicultural Services and Learning & Teaching Center.

2011 MLK Week Committee Members

  • Natasha Burrowes, Chair
  • Darryl Brice
  • Yoshiko Harden
  • Tommy Kim
  • Josh Magallanes
  • Shaquita Pressley
  • Kao Saechao
  • Kwaku Tagoe
  • Jodi White