This year's MLK Cincinnati theme is anything but the peacemaking message of years past. Titled "Unfair, Unequal, Unacceptable," organizer Christina Brown says speakers will not be focusing on Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I have a dream" speech.She says, "Given the tumultuous climate surrounding all of the social issues that we have and just the general exasperation felt across the board following the election, we thought it was important to revisit King's more radical ideology."
Adam Clark, a Xavier University professor, will be giving the keynote speech at the Taft Theatre. "I focus on the part of his legacy when he started to realize most whites are unconscious racists, that America is the greatest purveyor of violence in the world and I talk about why did he say those things."
The Schedule:
- 8:00 a.m. breakfast at the Freedom Center (sold out).
- 10:30 a.m. Commemorative Civil Rights March begins at the Freedom Center.
- 11:00 a.m. Fountain Square Interfaith Prayer Service, march to Taft Theatre.
- 11:30 a.m. Taft Theatre, MLK Commemorative Celebration (Music Hall is closed to be renovated).
Clark says he hopes people "understand King's courage to soldier on despite tremendous obstacles, and see him (King) as a resource as to what social change could look like in contemporary America."
The MLK Coalition wants the conversation to continue by using #MLKUNAFRAID on Twitter (@MLKINGCOALITION) and Instagram (@MLKCOALITION).
