Oxford College will hold a special observance on Wednesday, April 4, in tribute to Martin Luther King Jr. and in commemoration of the fiftieth anniversary of his assassination on April 4, 1968.
Oxford College will honor the life and legacy of Martin Luther King Jr. during an event to be held on April 4, the fiftieth anniversary of his assassination. “Dr. King’s Legacy: Beyond the Dream” is scheduled at 7:30 p.m. in Allen Memorial United Methodist Church, adjacent to the college’s campus.
Says Lyn Pace, Oxford College chaplain, “We wanted to mark this anniversary with the solemnity it deserves, looking back at all that Dr. King accomplished while looking ahead to the ways in which we can live out his example in a changing world.” Oxford’s Office of Religious and Spiritual Life, led by Pace, and the Pierce Program in Religion are the sponsors of the event.
The featured speaker for the evening is Beverly Daniel Tatum, Spelman College president emerita, whose remarks are entitled, “Creating Community: Listening to the Stories that are Hard to Hear."
In addition to her distinguished career in higher education, Tatum is the author of several books, including the best-selling Why Are All the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria? and Other Conversations About Race and Can We Talk about Race? and Other Conversations in an Era of School Resegregation (2007).
Special music will be performed by the MLK Interdenominational Choir, whose members are drawn from Newton County and other local communities. Tatum will be on hand following the main event to sign her books.
At 7:05 p.m., the bell of Oxford College’s Seney Hall will be rung 39 times, once for each year of Dr. King’s life. Those attending the event in Allen Memorial Church, as well as anyone else interested, are invited to gather outside Seney for this observance, which is part of the 50th anniversary commemoration sponsored by the National Civil Rights Museum in Memphis.