MLK Celebration

The National Day of Racial Healing (NDORH) is time for people and organizations to come together in their common humanity and take collective action to create a more just and equitable world. NDORH is part of the W.K. Kellogg Foundation’s Truth, Racial Healing & Transformation (TRHT) effort—a national and community-based process to plan for, and bring about, transformational and sustainable change (aacu.org).

In honor of this day, the BW Truth and Racial Healing Transformation Center Team will be holding a Jacket Circle for Faculty and Staff to participate. Jacket Circles are a key strategy to connect people from a wide variety of backgrounds through story sharing and deep listening. Jacket Circles help foster community building by utilizing group dialogue to lift up what unites us rather than what divides us; while discovering, respecting, and honoring each other’s unique experiences here at BW. The purpose is to facilitate trust and build authentic relationships that bridge divides created by real and perceived differences for BW students, faculty, and staff.

All are welcome to attend this ecumenical service sponsored by the BW Office of Spiritual Life and Black Student Alliance.

The 2024 theme It Starts with Me: The Quest for Peace and Justice 60 Years Later is a call for reflection to the Baldwin Wallace Community at a time when communities local and abroad are embroiled in unrest yet unrelenting in a quest for peace and justice. 2024 marks the 60th anniversary of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King’s Nobel Peace Prize Speech where he opines

“I refuse to accept the idea that man is mere flotsam and jetsam in the river of life, unable to influence the unfolding events which surround him. I refuse to accept the view that mankind is so tragically bound to the starless midnight of racism and war that the bright daybreak of peace and brotherhood can never become a reality.”

Even now, we are called to consider the ways that each action toward the daybreak of peace and brotherhood begins with a tiny step, an action that each person takes to be in community with one another.

Join the MLK Commemoration Committee in an opportunity to hear from an esteemed panel and also be engaged in dialogue with those in attendance.

Panelists:

Myesha Watkins, Executive Director, Cleveland Peacemakers Alliance
Dr. Craig Hovey, Executive Director, Ashland Center for Nonviolence, Ashland University
Otis Moss Jr. , Civil Rights Leader and Friend of Dr. King

A Jacket Circle is an experiential process by which through storytelling and deep listening we can embrace our common humanity, learn to see ourselves in one another, and approach difficult issues and needed policy changes through the lens of empathy and compassion. Participants will have an opportunity to engage in dialogue with their peers in a hands-on, transformational experience.

Sponsored by the BW Truth and Racial Health Transformation Center Team.

Join us for a reflective celebration featuring music, readings and keynote speaker J.T. Hairston Sr.

Mt. Zion Baptist Church
200 Emerson Ave., Berea, OH 44017

As part of Baldwin Wallace's MLK Celebration, the David & Francis Brain Center for Community Engagement will be hosting pop-up pantries for the BW community throughout the week of Jan. 15. 

For more information, please contact the Brain Center.

In what ways do peace and justice begin with you?
We invite the Baldwin Wallace community to participate in the 2024 Rev. Martin Luter King Jr. Commemoration poster campaign, “It Starts with Me!”.

How to Participate:

Please take the time to submit a short response with your photo and name by January 12th, 2024.
Poster Submission Link: https://cglink.me/2pB/s90417
Posters will then be mailed to you to place on your office or residence hall door. You will also receive a digital version of the poster for use on your social media during MLK Commemoration.
This digital version will also be used on BW social media, Center for Inclusion social media, and for the commemoration panel.
We hope you join us in the conversation and encourage you to promote the campaign with your BW network!
​​​​​​​#BWMLK24 #ItStartsWithMe #ItStartsWithMe24