WNYC and The Apollo Theater are partnering for the sixth year to present WNYC's 13th annual Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day celebration, Unsung Champions of Civil Rights from MLK to Today. WNYC's Peabody Award-winning host Brian Lehrer and Jami Floyd, local host of All Things Considered, will moderate meaningful conversations examining Dr. King's legacy and its impact on modern social-justice movements.
Through a lively mix of one-on-one interviews and panels featuring notable guests, we will commemorate the legacy of Dr. King, placing emphasis on lesser-known names crucial to the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s and today's social-issue movements. The "unsung" will include men, women, members of the LGBTQ community and others who didn't receive warranted, timely, or lasting recognition. WQXR's Terrance McKnight is Master of Ceremonies.
Guests will include:
- Janet Dewart Bell, Social justice activist and author
- Dr. Hazel Dukes, President of the NAACP New York State Conference
- Aldon Morris, Author and Professor of Sociology at Northwestern University
The event will include "Foot Soldier," a photo exhibition and discussion with acclaimed photographer Chester Higgins, Jr. and Andrea Taylor, President and CEO of the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute, and feature special performances by Freedom Singer soprano Rutha Harris and members of Urban Word NYC — a youth literacy arts organization.
