Indiana University East will hold its annual Martin Luther King Jr. Celebration at 1 p.m. on Thursday, January 21, in the Whitewater Hall Lobby. The event will feature speaker Phyllis Boanes, professor of history and past director of the African and African American Studies Program at Earlham College.

Boanes speech is “The Inconvenient King and the Politics of Memory.” The event is open to the public.

Tim Williams, director of Multicultural Affairs at IU East, said it is important for the university to provide opportunities for students and the community to hear different viewpoints on history.

“The annual IU East celebration is a time to reflect and learn of the life and work of Martin Luther King Jr. Our presenter, Professor Boanes, will talk about the revolutionary civil rights leader and the impact he has made on history.”

Boanes has taught at Ohio State University, Columbia College, Loyola of Chicago and Virginia State University. She earned her undergraduate degree from Howard University and her graduate degree from Northwestern University. Boanes’ research focuses on twentieth century social protest movements with a particular concentration on postwar black freedom struggles. At present, Boanes is working on a study of the fight for educational equity in post-Brown Boston and NYC.

For more information, contact the Office of Multicultural Affairs at (765)973-8320.