Reflection and Renewal: Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Commemoration | Jan. 21-23, 2025
RTC's Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) is hosting its third annual commemoration of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. This year's theme is Reflection and Renewal: Building CommUNITY through Action. Join students, college faculty and staff, community members, and a group of experts as we reflect on MLK's life through a series of on-campus events.
Schedule of Programs
Tuesday, Jan. 21
Black Women’s Leadership in the Black Freedom Movement—and Beyond
Dr. Derrick Brooms
11:30 a.m. – 1 p.m.
Blencoe Auditorium (C Building, 1st Floor) and Zoom
Join us for our keynote address by Dr. Derrick Brooms that will focus on Black women’s roles, responsibilities, and commitments during the long Black freedom struggle in the 20th century. In particular, the presentation will weave together the historical and contemporary to detail how Black women center community in their leadership and activism.
Dr. Derrick R. Brooms is the Inaugural Executive Director of the Black Men's Research Institute (BMRI) and is a Professor of Africana Studies at Morehouse College; he also serves as a youth worker and he is a prominent speaker and an award-winning educator and scholar.
Wednesday, Jan. 22
Community, Identity & Coalition Building through Art
Dr. Eileen Jimenez
12 p.m. – 2 p.m.
B-120
Collaborate with IndigiQueer artist Eileen Jimenez (Ñätho) to create artwork that reflects our experiences and relationships with Land, to joy, to resilience, to ourselves, and to our communities. During this workshop we will explore printmaking from pre-carved blocks, and watercolor to co-create art. During our time together we will also connect with each other, and reflect on what it means to coalition build and center our work in community and through art.
Biography: Eileen's mother is Maria Cruz, her grandmother is Eloisa, and her great grandmother is Isidora, matriarchs of the Ñätho (Otomi Peoples of Michoacan/Guanajuato, Mexico). As an Indigenous leader, community member, educator and as an artist, everything she does and creates is influenced by her many intersecting identities and lived experiences. Eileen uses linocut and mixed-media techniques to develop her own ways of telling stories in the complex layers that they exist in, as well as to demonstrate the ways that we are connected to the Land and to each other.
Thursday, Jan. 23
I Am MLK Jr.
1 – 3 p.m.
H-102 (In Person Only)
I Am MLK Jr. celebrates the life and explores the character of American icon, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. The film provides first hand insights on Dr. King, exploring moments of personal challenge and elation, his legacy and ongoing movement that is as important today as when Dr. King first shone a light on the plight of his fellow African Americans.
Contact
Doris Martinez
Executive Director of Diversity, Equity & Inclusion
dmartinez@rtc.edu
Maritza Ogarro
Executive Assistant - Diversity, Equity & Inclusion
mmogarro@rtc.edu