What should be known for all Memphians at the beginning of the new year is the 50th anniversary and yearlong commemoration of Martin Luther King, Jr.’s assassination. It’s occurring for a whole year at the National Civil Rights Museum in downtown Memphis and will be important to many in the city.
Beverly Bond, an associate professor of history at the University of Memphis, teaches a class called “Black Memphis.”
Bond was born and raised in Memphis and earned her doctorate degree at the U of M. She has a vast knowledge of the history of Memphis, and she hopes her class will educate her students on the city’s past.
“I hope my students learn more about the city they live in and consider what they can contribute to making it a better place to live and work,” Bond said.
Bond even incorporates the events in April to the class syllabus to add to her overall purpose of class to educate on Memphis history.
“Students will not only research and think about MLK 50, but place this seminal event (King’s murder) in the overall history of the city before and after 1968,” Bond said.
The National Civil Rights Museum kicked off these events on April 4, 2017, and they continue through this upcoming April. Events posted on the online event calendar happened throughout the country. From places like museums and high school, MLK 50 events taught the history and how some issues can still be connected to today.
The theme for the year of commemoration is “Where Do We Go from Here?” The National Civil Rights Museum wants everyone to reflect on the past, but also to focus on the future. The theme’s name is also the name of a speech King gave at the Southern Christian Leadership Conference on Aug. 16, 1967.
Some events will happen on the University of Memphis campus, like “MLK 50: Where Do We Go from Here Symposium,” which the U of M law school will host on April 2. Eric Holder, the 82nd Attorney General of the United States, will be the keynote speaker. The event will focus on subjects of activism, poverty, voting and criminal justice. The set of panelists will relate the topics from the history of King and Civil Rights Movements of the past to today’s situations.
The second day of the symposium will occur at Michael D. Rose Theatre on campus on April 3. The day will consist of three topics of discussion: “Memphis 50 Years Later, Marching Forward; Poverty & Economic Equity: Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow; and The Promise of Education.” The keynote speaker will be Taylor Branch, a historian and Pulitzer Prize-winning author. This symposium will mostly consist of scholars and historians discussing the status of human and civil rights in its current situation.
Tickets to more events can be purchased at MLK50.civilrightsmuseum.org.
