Tickets are available now for the 31st annual community celebration to honor the life and legacy of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. The event, organized by the Delaware County MLK Day Committee and Ohio Wesleyan University, will be held at noon Jan. 15, 2024, at the university.
The “Embracing Change” commemoration will feature keynote speaker Hasan Jeffries, Ph.D., associate professor of History at The Ohio State University and author of “Bloody Lowndes: Civil Rights and Black Power in Alabama’s Black Belt,” and emcee Tracy Townsend, “Wake Up CBUS” news anchor and medical correspondent for WBNS-10TV (CBS) in Columbus.
Jeffries’ book is described as a “remarkable story of the people of rural Lowndes County, a small Southern town, who in 1966 organized a radical experiment in democratic politics.” He also is the editor of “Understanding and Teaching the Civil Rights Movement,” a collection of essays by leading Civil Rights scholars and teachers that explores how to teach the Civil Rights movement accurately and effectively.
Townsend is a multiple Emmy winner, an active graduate member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority Inc., and a member of the National Association of Black Journalists. Before joining WBNS-TV, she worked at WBBM-TV in Chicago, KCTV in Kansas City, and WKRC-TV in Cincinnati.
Doors will open at 11 a.m., with a buffet lunch beginning around 11:15 a.m. The main program will run from noon to 1 p.m. All events will be held in the Benes Rooms of Ohio Wesleyan’s Hamilton-Williams Campus Center, 40 Rowland Ave., Delaware.
The Jan. 15 celebration also will include performances by the Columbus Adventist Academy Children’s Choir, directed by Tamaria Kulameka, and Ohio Wesleyan’s Spoken Word. To purchase tickets, visit https://bit.ly/EmbracingChange2024. Online purchases will continue through Jan. 8.
Proceeds continue to benefit the Delaware County Martin Luther King Scholarship Program, which has awarded more than $34,000 in scholarships to Delaware County students since 1990. This year’s recipients, Emma Meier and Alayna Boyer, will be recognized at the event. Learn more about the 2024 “Embracing Change” celebration at www.owu.edu/MLK.
Submitted by Ohio Wesleyan University.
