Battle against Martin Luther King Jr.’s ‘three evils’ persists today
NORTH MANCHESTER, Ind. – Activist, educator and scholar Dr. David Ragland will speak at Manchester University about “Martin Luther King and the Triple Evils: Grappling with Militarism, Materialism and Racism in our Time.”
Although most remember King for his “I Have a Dream” speech, he was also a radical truth teller, promoting nonviolent means to battle those “three evils of society.”
Ragland will speak about the meaning behind King’s “Future of Integration” address delivered at the North Manchester campus on Feb. 1, 1968, just two months before he was slain. King died April 4, 1968, in Memphis, Tenn., while fighting to get a wage increase for sanitation workers and preparing to lead a Poor People’s Campaign march in Washington, D.C.
Ragland will talk about today’s struggles with the vicious cycle of race, violence and inequality at 7 p.m. Feb. 22 in Cordier Auditorium on the North Manchester campus. The presentation is free and open to the public.
Ragland is co-founder and co-director for the Truth Telling Project and a senior Bayard Rustin fellow for the Fellowship of Reconciliation. He has been a blogger for the Huffington Post and writes frequently for PeaceVoice.
Mainstream politics and political parties often avoid using the word “poverty” and ignore those who experience economic injustice. Ragland will focus on today’s federal budget and how it is a testament to this.
Ragland holds a doctorate in education from the University of Toledo, with master’s degrees in peace education from Teachers College of Columbia University and international affairs from Washington University in St. Louis.
Sponsors of the event are the MU Office of Multicultural Affairs and Peace Studies Institute, with additional funding from the Harvey L. and Alice A Long Memorial Lecture Fund. The presentation is part of the Values, Ideas and the Arts series at Manchester.
This is among many events throughout the academic year that celebrate MU's connection to the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.
About Manchester University
Manchester University, with campuses in North Manchester and Fort Wayne, Ind., offers more than 60 areas of academic study to nearly 1,600 students in undergraduate programs, a Master of Athletic Training, a Master of Pharmacogenomics and a four-year professional Doctor of Pharmacy. Learn more about the private, northern Indiana school at www.manchester.edu.
February 2018