17/10/2014, by CLAS

People often think they know Martin Luther King Jr, but do they?

Look at the new statue in Washington, featured on the poster below. Its design was controversial because some felt it made King look too stern and forbidding a figure, but maybe it corrected a false perception of him and his non-violent philosophy as simply conciliatory and passive.

The monument also casts an African American in white stone and is currently being repaired because it misquoted one of his statements so that it could fit into a limited space. Over four lectures on two Sundays in Black History Month, King biographer Peter Ling (Head of American and Canadian Studies at Nottingham) will bring you closer to the life and the man, addressing topics such as what did King bring to the civil rights movement and what did he find within it? What was his form of non-violence and how radical was it? How does he compare to other voices of black protest like Malcolm X? And in a time still wracked by war and racism, how should we remember Martin Luther King – with a statue or with a protest against injustice?

Like King himself, we’ll complete a social justice journey, from the beginnings of King’s activism to his death and legacy. We’re especially excited to be hosting this lecture and conversation series at the Afro-Caribbean National Artistic Centre (ACNA) in St Ann’s, founded in 1978 as a community organisation to promote awareness of the cultural heritage of black people and a positive sense of identity, self respect and respect of others. Please join us at ACNA, 31 Hungerhill Road, in the Main Hall, for these BHM Sundays:

• Sunday October 19th, 4pm: “The Making of Martin: The Gospel, the Family and the Struggle”
• Sunday October 19th, 6pm: “Finding His Way: The Paradox of Non-Violence”
• Sunday October 26th, 4pm: “The Black Power Debate: King, Malcolm X and Stokely Carmichael”
• Sunday October 26th, 6pm: “Remembering and Forgetting King”

Peter Ling, Professor of American Studies, of Head Department of American and Canadian Studies

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