1The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Observance 2013

“Freedom is one thing — you have it all or you are not free.”

 DEBT AND INEQUALITY:

The Relevance of King’s Forgotten Economic Message

Sunday, Jan. 20
1pm
Film: The Corporation
Provocative, witty, stylish and sweepingly informative, The Corporation explores the spectacular rise of the dominant institution of our time. Taking the corporation’s status as a legal “person” to the logical conclusion, the film puts it on the psychiatrist’s couch to ask, “What kind of person is it?” Noam Chomsky, Milton Friedman, Naomi Klein, Howard Zinn and Michael Moore are among sources interviewed. Sponsored by the Bates Democrats.  Pettengill Hall, Keck Classroom (G52)

4pm
Film: Scarred Justice: The Orangeburg Massacre 1968
Award-winning filmmaker Bestor Cram screens his documentary about a police shooting that left three young men dying and dozens wounded at South Carolina State College. All of the police were white, all of the students African American. Cram presents eyewitness accounts as well as interviews with former Gov. Robert McNair and journalists who covered the story. Sponsored by the offices of the Dean of Students and Intercultural Education, and the Martin Luther King Jr. Day Planning Committee.  Pettengill Hall, Keck Classroom (G52)

7pm
The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Service
Homily by Anthea Butler: God and the 99 Percent
This annual service imparts a spiritual dimension to MLK Day observances at Bates. Readings and music are presented by Bates students and community members. Butler, who also presents the keynote address on MLK Day itself, is associate professor and graduate chair of religious studies at the University of Pennsylvania.
Peter J. Gomes Chapel

8:30pm
Reception , conversation  and book signing with Anthea Butler
Peter J. Gomes Chapel

Monday, Jan. 21
9:30–11am
The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day Keynote Address
Peter J. Gomes Chapel

Music by Three Point Jazz Trio, 9:15am

Welcome by A. Clayton Spencer
President of Bates College

Overview by Pamela J. Baker ’70
Dean of the Faculty

Introduction by Charles Nero
Professor of Rhetoric and of African American Studies and American Cultural Studies; Chair, Martin Luther King Jr. Day Planning Committee

Keynote Address: MLK and America’s Bad Check: America’s Poor in the 21st Century
By Anthea Butler: Associate Professor and Graduate Chair of Religious Studies, University of Pennsylvania
In the last months of his life, Dr. King’s Poor People’s Campaign connected his quest for civil rights to the fight against poverty in our nation. With the economic crash of 2008 and the ongoing erosion of America’s middle class, is it time for a new Poor People’s Campaign? Butler will discuss King’s campaign in light of issues facing the United States today.

Butler is a historian of American and African American religion, and explores the intersections of religion with politics, gender, sexuality and popular culture. Her forthcoming  book The Gospel According to Sarah (The New Press) looks at the role of religion in Sarah Palin’s political action and Palin’s influence on the Republican Party.

Butler’s first book, Women in the Church of God in Christ: Making A Sanctified World (University of North Carolina Press, 2007), is an engaging look at African American women’s lives and civic engagement, highlighting how their social uplift in the church is rooted not only in respectability, but in strict religious belief.

A regular guest on the Melissa Harris Perry Show on MSNBC and a sought-after media commentator, Butler also reflects on contemporary politics, religion and social issues on the online magazine Religion Dispatches and her own blog, You Might Think So. She holds master’s and doctoral degrees in religion from Vanderbilt University and a master’s in theology from Fuller Theological Seminary.

11am–noon
Session I: Breakout Discussions
Conversations facilitated by Bates faculty, staff and students explore and expand upon the keynote presentation given by Anthea Butler.
Hedge Hall, Rooms 106 and 208 • Roger Williams Hall, Room G18

Walter Rodney and “How Europe Underdeveloped Africa”
Convened by the Africana Club.
Pettengill Hall, Room G65

A Growing Divide: The Cost of Educational Inequity
Convened by Tara Prasad ’13 and Kim Sullivan ’13, educational studies.
Pettengill Hall, Keck Classroom (G52)

Noon–1pm
Lunch: A special menu created for MLK Day is just $5.50.
New Commons

1–2:45pm
The Rev. Benjamin Elijah Mays ’20 Debate
Student debaters from Morehouse and Bates colleges
Resolved: The Government Has a Moral Responsibility to Enact Policies to Decrease Poverty
In a popular MLK Day tradition, the Brooks Quimby Debate Council welcomes debaters from Morehouse College, a historically black school known for educational excellence and illustrious graduates. The Bates-Morehouse link came about because the Rev. Benjamin E. Mays, Bates ’20, spent 27 years as president of Morehouse, where he was a mentor to King. The Bates team represents a widely esteemed debate tradition in which both Mays and Edmund S. Muskie ’36, former U.S. senator and secretary of state, figure prominently.  Note: Free, but tickets required. Please visit bit.ly/bates-mlkdebate-13 or call 207-786-6400.  Olin Arts Center Concert Hall

 3–4:10pm
Session II: Workshops
Beyond Bates: Building Financial Literacy with Lewiston-Auburn Immigrants
Convened by Claude Rwaganje of Community Financial Literacy, Bates alumni and students in Elizabeth Eames’ fall anthropology seminar Production and Reproduction. Sponsored by the departments of anthropology and rhetoric, and the programs in African American studies and American cultural studies.
Pettengill Hall, Room G21

Economic Challenges, Social Justice and the Athletic Experience
A panel discussion with Squash Coach Pat Cosquer ’97; track and field standout Keelin Godsey ’06; and Jacqui Holmes ’13. Moderated by Erica Rand, Whitehouse Professor of Women and Gender Studies and of Art and Visual Culture. Convened by the Athletics Committee and Athletics Department. Also: See the debut of the “You Can Play” video, created in support of LGBTQ athletes. Pettengill Hall, Room G65

Chinese Migrant Workers Through the Movie Lens
Screening of Last Train Home (directed by Lixin Fan, 2009), followed by a student research presentation and panel discussion. Convened by Margaret Maurer-Fazio, Betty Doran Stangle Professor of Applied Economics; Blake Shafer ’13; David Kurey ’15; Jackson Fleming ’15; and Assistant Professor of Chinese Xing Fan. Sponsored by the Asian studies program.  (Note: This workshop meets across both Sessions II and III.)  Pettengill Hall, Keck Classroom (G52)

Solo performance by Aaron Calafato: For Profit
Calafato’s one-man show is based upon his experience as an admissions counselor at a for-profit college. He plays multiple characters as he explores the ethics of for-profit colleges. Sponsored by the departments of theater and dance and of education, and by the MLK Day Planning Committee. (Note: This workshop meets across both Sessions II and III.)  Gannett Theater

Civic Seminar: Transformative Transitions: Ensuring Full Participation at Bates
A community conversation about ways in which we live the mission of the college, especially pertaining to the mission statement language about “[engaging] the transformative power of our differences, cultivating intellectual discovery and informed civic action.” Convened by Heather Lindkvist, Special Assistant to the President for Diversity and Inclusion, and Darby Ray, Director of the Harward Center for Community Partnerships. Sponsored by the Harward Center and the offices of Intercultural Education and of Equity and Diversity Resources. (Note: This workshop meets across both Sessions II and III. Dinner will be served, and space is limited. RSVP to Heather Lindkvist at titleix@bates.edu.)   New Commons, Rooms 211 and 221

Thinking About Tomorrow: Debt-Free at Last!
Convened by Alyse Bigger ’12 and Kathryn Dwight, both of AmeriCorps Financial Empowerment Services at WORK Inc., Boston. Sponsored by the Harward Center for Community Partnerships and the Office of Intercultural Education.  Hedge Hall, Room 208

4:20–5:30pm
Session III: Workshops

Chinese Migrant Workers Through the Movie Lens
Described under Session II.  Pettengill Hall, Keck Classroom (G52)

Blaming the Victim? Economic Crisis and the Social Cost of Debt in Argentina and Spain
Convened by Professor of Spanish Baltasar Fra-Molinero; Assistant Professor of Economics Alejandro Dellachiesa; and Assistant Professor of Economics Daniel Riera-Crichton. Sponsored by the departments of economics and Spanish.  Pettengill Hall, Room G10

Solo performance by Aaron Calafato: For Profit
Described under Session II.   Gannett Theatre

Student-Loan Debt in the Media: Race and Gender
Convened by Associate Professor of African American Studies Sue Houchins; Linda Kugblenu ’13; and Cynthia Alexandre-Brutus ’13.  Hedge Hall, Room 106

Civic Seminar: Transformative Transitions: Ensuring Full Participation at Bates
Described under Session II.   New Commons,Rooms 211 and 221

Beyond Economic Inequality: Understanding Barriers to Integration for Immigrants in Lewiston-Auburn
A panel discussion with Somali and Somali Bantu community leaders, community activists and Bates faculty on the social and economic barriers to integration that immigrants and refugees continue to face in Lewiston-Auburn. Convened by the anthropology department, the Office of Equity and Diversity Resources and the Maine People’s Alliance. Panelists include Larry Gilbert, former mayor of Lewiston; Fatuma Hussein, director, United Somali Women of Maine; Heather Lindkvist, Heather Lindkvist, Special Assistant to the President for Diversity and Inclusion; Rilwan Osman, director, Somali Bantu Youth; and Craig Saddlemire ’05, Lewiston city councilor, filmmaker and community activist.  Pettengill Hall, Room G21

7:30pm
The Evening Program
Sankofa: A Rose by Any Other Name
The annual performance by a Bates student group that explores African diasporic experiences through the performing arts of dance, music, theater and spoken word. This year’s performance focuses on differences regarding sexuality. Note: Free, but tickets required. Please visit bit.ly/bates-sankofa-13 or call 207-786-6400. Also, this program involves mature themes and may not be suitable for everyone.  Schaeffer Theatre

Wednesday, Jan. 23
1:30–2:30pm
The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Read-In
Faculty, staff and students from Bates and Lewiston-Auburn College volunteer to share a book with a fourth-, fifth- or sixth-grader at Martel School in Lewiston. Books will be given to the classrooms to keep. Cars will leave the Harward Center at 1:30pm and return to campus by 2:40pm. For more information, please contact Ellen Alcorn at 207-786-8235 or alcorn@bates.edu.