Martin Luther King Jr. Legacy Day

The Babson community remembers, reflects upon, and celebrates the legacy of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

This annual event initiates and continues conversations about the realization of King’s vision of justice, equality, and peace in our own community and in the world at large.

2023 Martin Luther King Jr. Legacy Day Event

Wednesday, February 1, 2023 – 5–7 p.m. ET

In-person at the Sorenson Center for the Arts

LaTosha Brown

The Martin Luther King Legacy Day Committee is thrilled to announce that our keynote speaker will be voting rights activist, advocate, and visionary leader LaTosha Brown.

LaTosha is a contributor to The New York Times op-ed page and a Senior Practice Fellow at the Ash Center for Democratic Governance and Innovation at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government. As co-founder of the Black Voters Matter Fund organization, LaTosha is dedicated to increasing the political power of Black people.

The Black Voters Matter Fund was credited with energizing and turning out voters in Alabama’s Black Belt and playing a decisive role in Doug Jones’ election to the U.S. Senate.

LaTosha and her Black Voters Matter Fund partners often travel through the South and key swing states on what they call “The Blackest Bus in America” to galvanize voters and put a stop to voter suppression. She is also the co-founder of Black Voters Matter Capacity Building Institute an organization that provides training and support to community-based organizations. 

An in-demand public speaker, LaTosha has distinguished herself as a trusted expert on political strategy, organizing, civil rights, economic development, wealth creation, and rural issues over a 20 year career. She is the founding project director of Grantmakers for Southern Progress and a founding member of the Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors’ Gulf Coast Fund for Community Renewal and Ecological Health. She has advised many national and regional foundations, including the Ford Foundation, Open Society Institute, and the Clinton Global Initiative.

LaTosha is noted to be a visionary who is leading the charge for a new, inclusive America.

2022

Speaker: James Blake

2021

Theme: Where Do We Go from Here: Chaos or Community?
Speaker: Farah Bernier MBA’08

2020

Theme: A Chance In the World for All
Speaker: Steve Pemberton

2019

Theme: The Winding Road Toward Justice and Equality
Speaker: Mónica Ramírez

2018

Theme: Tearing Hatred from the Sky
Speaker: Bree Newsome

2017

Theme: History Under Assault
Speaker: Thomas Chatterton Williams

2016

Theme: Eavesdropping on America’s Conversation on Race
Speaker: Michele Norris

2015

Theme: Resegregation in Post–Civil Rights America
Speaker: Dr. Khalil Gibran Muhammad

2014

Theme: Globalization in the Prison Industrial Complex
Speaker: Angela Davis

2013

Theme: Race and the Persistence of Social Inequality in Contemporary America
Speaker: Ta-Nehisi Coates

2012

Theme: The Quest for Equality: Empathy and Global Justice in a Divided World
Speaker: Rinku Sen

2011

Theme: Sustaining King’s Legacy: Social Justice through a Green Economy
Speaker: Van Jones

2010

Theme: American Culture and the Pursuit of Justice in a Global Society
Speaker: Patricia Williams

2009

Theme: The New Activism: Power, Global Citizenship, and the Path to Equality
Speaker: Kevin Powell

2008

Theme: Freedom and Self-Determination in the Global Era
Speaker: John Edgar Wideman

2007

Theme: Economic Disparity and Race: A Necessary Redress
Speaker: Naomi Tutu

2006

Theme: 50 Years After Montgomery: Is the Dream Deferred, Diluted, or Fulfilled?
Speaker: Juan Williams

2005

Theme: Micro-lending: Banker to the Poor
Speaker: Muhammad Yunus

2004

First Annual MLK Legacy Day
Speaker: Julianne Malveaux

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