Political activist Angela Davis to be keynote speaker at MLK dinner next week

“Women in Action: Pursuing the Dream” is this year’s theme for Southeast Missouri State University’s annual event to honor Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. The keynote speaker will be Angela Davis, an American political activist, academic and author.

The dinner — which is sold out — begins at 5 p.m. Wednesday at the Show Me Center.

Sonia Rucker, dean of students and assistant to the president for equity and diversity at Southeast, said Davis exemplifies everything the planning committee wanted to accomplish with this year’s event.

“Most of the (recent years’) keynote speakers have been male. ... This past year, we really wanted to focus on women leaders, women heroes,” Rucker said.

Several women were considered, she said, including novelist Toni Morrison, who died in August.

Of Davis, Rucker said, “She’s always going to be, I think, at the top of any lists when you’re talking about strong females.”

There are a lot of different notes to the King celebration, Rucker said.

“We definitely want to pay attention to Dr. King’s legacy — his entire legacy,” she said.

Having a speaker who could speak to the theme, tie it in to King’s push for civil rights, and pull in the goals of the campus and the community, was important, Rucker said.

“I think we hit the right note with Dr. Angela Davis, although she may not be as popular among some people,” Rucker said. “She is a controversial figure, but I think it’s important to think: This is her story. This is her history. This is her path. I don’t think it’s up to any of us to speak for her, or defend her, because if she didn’t have the history and past that she had, she wouldn’t be on anybody’s list of speakers.”

Throughout her decades of public speaking, Davis has supported social justice issues, criminal justice reform and gay rights, while opposing issues such as the Vietnam War, the war on terror, the death penalty, racism and sexism, according to the university.

The 75-year-old scholar and civil rights activist has authored 10 books and lectured internationally. Her recent works include “Are Prisons Obsolete?” which focuses on the prison industrial complex, and “Freedom is a Constant Struggle: Ferguson, Palestine, and the Foundations of a Movement.”

Davis was a supporter of the Soledad Brothers — three inmates who were accused of killing a prison guard at Soledad Prison — in the early 1970s, when she became the third woman to be placed on the FBI’s 10 Most Wanted list for her involvement in Jonathan Jackson’s attack on a courtroom Marin County, California.

Previous speakers for the King celebration event had been paid up to approximately $30,000, Rucker said, adding Davis will be paid significantly less.

The university did not provide a specific amount to be paid to Davis.

“We are excited, as always, for the King dinner,” Rucker said. “It’s the kickoff the Black History Month, and we have a lot of events and activities planned throughout February.”

More information is at www.semo.edu/mlk, along with an event calendar for Black History Month and a reading list of more than 200 titles, compiled by Kent Library staff, and more.