Public Talk – King’s Ethics & Kelso’s Economics

On Wednesday, May 9, at 7:00pm, Dr. Virgil Wood (the 2018 VT Graduate Commencement Speaker), Prof. Harvey Cox (Hollis Professor of Divinity, Emeritus, Harvard University), and I will hold a public conversation on The Role of Dr. King, Jr.’s Ethics & Kelso’s Economics in Creating a Workable Society. Prof. Cox will be joining the conversation via video conference.

2018-05-08_2218 — Image of Dr. King, Jr. with Dr. Virgil Wood; Image of Louis O. Kelso

The event will be held in the Solitude Room at the Inn at Virginia Tech. Please share this announcement with students and community groups who may find this subject of interest. The event will provide attendees with a unique opportunity to engage with Dr. Wood and Dr. Cox, who have spent their lives working to advance economic and spiritual development across the nation.

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Jubilee Summit

April 4, 2018 marks 50 years since Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s departure. In response to this anniversary, members of the Beloved Community Initiative created the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Jubilee Summit to draw on the collective experiences of more than a dozen national and local organizations and individuals to answer Dr. King, Jr.’s question: Where do we go from here?

The Jubilee Summit consists of a series of strategic online gatherings. Information about each event is provided here. Summit speakers include academic, religious, and community leaders, and everyone is invited to participate.

The Jubilee Summit will begin on Friday, March 23, 10am (EST), with a discussion between Dr. Virgil A. Wood (Co-founder, Jubilee National Collaborative) and Dr. Howard H. Stevenson (Harvard University Business School), on a collaboration they have shared for more than ten years. They will launch the summit by addressing the topic: Does Martin Luther King, Jr. have a living legacy, and if so, where is economic justice?

Dr. Walker to Speak on Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and the Politics of Freedom

On Tuesday, January 16 at 2:30pm, Dr. Corey Walker (Vice President, Dean, and Professor of Religion and Society at Virginia Union University) will be giving a public lecture entitled The Sovereignty of the Imagination: Martin Luther King, Jr. and the Politics of Freedom, at the Biocomplexity Institute Auditorium at Virginia Tech.

Dr. Corey’s lecture is the first official event of Virginia Tech’s 2018 MLK Week. Dr. Corey is a core member of the VT-VUU team behind the 2018 Beloved Community Initiative Essay Contest (see the video below). This contest provides junior and senior students at high schools across Virginia with the opportunity to explore exemplars of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr’s notion of the Beloved Community – a community based on social and economic justice and a common love for fellow human beings. The essay submissions are due by 6pm on April 4, 2018.