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Dr. Randal Maurice Jelks, author of Letters to Martin: Meditations on Democracy in Black America, spoke at the Graham Center on January 12, 2023 in the Pugh Hall Ocora.

In celebration of Martin Luther King Day, Dr. Jelks  discussed how black citizens throughout  U.S. history have been the country’s most avid supporters and protectors of democracy when resisting oligarchical forms of leadership and power. Dr. Jelks will also examine the reflections and meditations outlined in his book through the Civil Rights Movement that King initiated, and progress made.

This program is presented in partnership with the University’s African American Studies Program, Bob Graham Center for Public Service, Office of Black Student Engagement in the Center for Inclusion & Multicultural Engagement, Chief Diversity Officer, Samuel Proctor Oral History Program, Department of History, and College of Liberal Arts & Sciences Associate Dean of Equity and Inclusion.

This in-person program is free and open to the public. An alternate livestream is provided. Parking is available in the Murphree Lot on University Avenue between Buckman Drive and Fletcher Drive. Enter the lot at Buckman Drive and University Avenue.

About the Speaker

Randal Maurice Jelks is an author, documentary film producer and a professor at the University of Kansas. He is the author of four books. His latest book is Letters to Martin: Meditations on Democracy in Black America . He is also a contributor to the Boston Review, the Los Angeles Review of Books, and Truthout as well as national blogs, journals, magazine and newspapers.