On Thursday, April 29, at 1 PM EDT, the Coretta Scott King Center for Cultural and Intellectual Freedom (CSKC) will co-host its annual Legacy Celebration with a free, open to the public, virtual gathering in partnership with the Celebrate! Maya Project. Sisterhood & Social Justice honors the life and legacy of two American giants, Coretta Scott King (Antioch College Class of 1951) and Dr. Maya Angelou. Register online here.
This event will be an acknowledgment of—and celebration of—Coretta Scott King’s and Maya Angelou’s lifelong works to address America’s historical racial and social injustices through their art, humanities, civil rights, and social justice efforts, and recognition of other Americans whose work closely align with theirs. Both were born in the month of April, and both left the world better thanks to their legacy of civil rights, social justice, and the humanities.
Keynote speaker Minnijean Brown Trickey
Attendees of the Legacy Celebration will gain a sense of the generational nature of American social justice movements, from the civil rights era to the work continuing in the present day.
Minnijean Brown Trickey, one of the Little Rock Nine, who collectively resisted opposition to the desegregation of Little Rock Central High School in 1957, will give the keynote address. She has lifelong experience and commitment to peacemaking, environmental issues, developing youth leadership, antiracism education and training, cross-cultural communication, and gender and social justice advocacy.
Jamee McAdoo and Norel McAdoo, both graduates of Little Rock Central High School, will also perform their poetry for attendees.
Poet Jamee McAdoo
Jamee McAdoo, an undergraduate student at Jackson State University, is a professional spoken-word poet, award-winning playwright, former on-air radio personality, published author, and the first and forever 2019 Miss Heritage’s Outstanding Teen.
Poet Norell McAdoo
Norel McAdoo is a well-renowned award-winning poet and was crowned the 2018 Arkansas Teen Poet Laureate. In addition, he teaches poetry workshops and has been commissioned to travel across the world to do so.
Both organizations will present awards recognizing social justice trailblazers during the Legacy Celebration. The awards will include the Celebrate! Maya Project Social Justice award, which recognizes and celebrates the social justice work of Maya Angelou, and the Coretta Scott King Center’s annual awards, the Legacy Award and Coretta Scott King Student Award.
This celebration will be followed by discussions on how to utilize Mrs. King’s and Dr. Angelou’s works as blueprints for addressing America’s social injustices and inequalities, and how to measure real and lasting progress toward equity and justice in our local and national communities.
About the Coretta Scott King Center for Cultural and Intellectual Freedom at Antioch College
The Coretta Scott King Center for Cultural and Intellectual Freedom honors the legacy of Antioch’s renowned alumna Coretta Scott King by facilitating learning, dialogue, and action to advance social justice. The CSKC is the site of training, Kingian nonviolence workshops, an annual Social Justice Symposium, and other programs and educational initiatives. Learn more at this link.
About the Celebrate! Maya Project
The Celebrate! Maya Project (CMP) was established in 2014, with the mission of celebrating the legacy of literary icon Maya Angelou by taking her story to Arkansas schools and communities and using her life journey as a blueprint for literary and arts programs in the schools—with special emphasis on the Arkansas Delta regions. The organization promotes Maya Angelou’s life and legacy through public forums, writing, poetry, history workshops, and creative arts competitions. Learn more at this link.
