Annual Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Birthday Celebration
Carlotta Walls LaNier, featured speaker at the 2013 celebration The City of Bloomington's Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Birthday Celebration took place at the Buskirk-Chumley Theater, 114 E. Kirkwood Ave., Bloomington, IN at 7 p.m., following a reception featuring hors d'oeuvres.
The event included remarks by Mayor Kruzan, who presented the 2013 Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Legacy Award to the Indiana University Office of Diversity Education. MLK Commissioner Barbara Fuqua helped recognize volunteers who participated in "A Day On! Not A Day Off." Musical entertainment was provided by the Indiana University African American Choral Ensemble and the University Elementary School Martin Luther King, Jr. Choir.
The keynote speaker was Carlotta Walls LaNier, one of the "Little Rock Nine" who, in 1957, were the first African American students to attend Little Rock Central High School. LaNier and the other students were initially prevented from entering the racially segregated school by Arkansas Governor Orval Faubus, and then attended after the intervention of President Eisenhower. The event is widely considered one of the most important events in the Civil Rights Movement.
Major event underwriters included Indiana University, Ivy Tech Community College-Bloomington, Otis Elevator, Stephens Honda-Hyundai and WFIU.
A look back at last year...
It was an energizing and inspiring evening as the community came together to reflect on the life of Dr. King and the impact that this day of service in our community on Monday, January 16, 2012.
The birthday celebration was held at 7 p.m. at the Buskirk-Chumley Theater, 114 E. Kirkwood Ave. and was preceded by a reception at the First United Methodist Church at 5 p.m. Both events were FREE.
The event included remarks by Mayor Kruzan and by Michael McRobbie, President of Indiana University, City of Bloomington King Commission Chair William A. Vance, Jr. and others.
Lee Hamilton, featured speaker at the 2012 MLK Annual Community Celebration EventThe keynote speaker was Lee H. Hamilton. Mr. Hamilton was director of The Center on Congress at Indiana University. Hamilton represented Indiana's 9th congressional district for 34 years beginning January 1965. He served as chairman and ranking member of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs, chaired the Subcommittee on Europe and the Middle East, the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, the Select Committee to Investigate Covert Arms Transactions with Iran, the Joint Economic Committee, and the Joint Committee on the Organization of Congress. As a member of the House Standards of Official Conduct Committee, Hamilton was a primary draftsman of several House ethics reforms. Hamilton served on the Congressional Commission on the Strategic Posture of the United States. He was appointed to the National War Powers Commission, and served as co-chair of the Iraq Study Group, a forward-looking, bi-partisan assessment of the situation in Iraq, created at the urging of Congress. Hamilton served as vice-chair of the 9/11 Commission and co-chaired the 9/11 Public Discourse Project, established to monitor implementation of the Commission's recommendations. He was co-chair of the Independent Task Force on Immigration and America's Future and also served as a member of the Commission on Federal Election Reform, the U.S. Commission on National Security in the 21st Century (the Hart-Rudman Commission), and the FBI Director's Advisory Board.
Hamilton is a graduate of DePauw University and Indiana University School of Law. Before his election to Congress, Hamilton practiced law in Chicago, Illinois, and Columbus, Indiana. Hamilton is the author of How Congress Works and Why You Should Care; Strengthening Congress; A Creative Tension-The Foreign Policy Roles of the President and Congress; and co-author of Without Precedent: The Inside Story of the 9/11 Commission and The Iraq Study Group Report.
Musical performers included the Indiana University African American Choral Ensemble, directed by Professor Keith McCutchen, and A Men, a new, local male A cappella group. In addition, volunteers who participated in "A Day On! Not A Day Off" were recognized, and the winner of the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Commission's Legacy Award was announced.
The Buskirk-Chumley Theater program and reception were both free and open to the public.