The following story was written by Carrie Hutnick, who is the associate director of community-based learning at 性吧导航鈥檚 Lindy Center for Civic Engagement.
The Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day of Service is Jan. 16, and 性吧导航鈥檚 Lindy Center for Civic Engagement will be offering programs all week that highlight Black feminist leaders of the civil rights movement and the progress shaped by them.
For the past three years, we have used this week to enhance our Drexel community鈥檚 knowledge, engagement and reflection about Dr. King鈥檚 views and actions that have become memorialized, and ask what learning about his work might mean to our community engagement efforts today. We hope to go above and beyond what is typically shared about Dr. King surrounding the Day of Service and uplift what his work challenges us all to understand about our society, our communities and ourselves; then consider what his example and analysis challenges us to do to work towards goals of justice.
In 2021, we held events and distributed materials that further explored writing and teachings discussed by Dr. King for an understanding of him not only as a figure but as a scholar, an educator and an activist. In 2022 we offered resources and events that highlighted the a concept supported by both Dr. King and aligned educators like bell hooks.
This year, we will highlight Black feminist leaders who were fundamental to efforts and gains of the Civil Rights movement yet often overlooked or underrepresented in conversations about it. We hope it will lead to reflections on the importance of intersectionality when engaging with civic issues, as well as discussions about whose stories are told or acknowledged as integral to historical periods of social change.
Jennifer Yusin, PhD, director of Drexel鈥檚 Women and Gender Studies Program and associate professor in the College of Arts and Sciences, said: 鈥淲e 鈥榟ighlight鈥� women of color of feminisms and activisms so we learn of the ways so many of the positions and privileges we assume and take for granted to be a 鈥榬ight鈥� are a result of their experiences, courage, and commitments to social and political transformations. We 鈥榟ighlight鈥� women of color feminisms and activisms so we no longer need to keep asking 鈥榳hy highlight Black feminism and Black feminist civil rights leaders?鈥� We do so because it鈥檚 necessary and because we know of the indispensable ways our lives are woven 鈥� in visible and invisible ways 鈥� together.鈥�
Each day, the Lindy Center will highlight the below themes through in-person events and on their social media (on their , and accounts):
Tuesday, Jan. 17: Writing/Narrative & Educational Approaches to Change 鈥� Ida B Wells, Septima Clark, Ruby Bridges
- EVENT: from 12鈥�1:30 p.m. at the Lindy Center.
Wednesday, Jan. 18: Voting & Political Change 鈥� Fanny Lou Hamer, Shirley Chisolm, Diane Nash
- EVENT: at the Lindy Center for students seeking civic engagement opportunities from 1鈥�3 p.m.
Thursday, Jan. 19: Collective Action & Organizing 鈥� Rosa Parks, Angela Davis, Ella Baker
- EVENT: from 5:30鈥�8 p.m. at the Lindy Center.
Friday, Jan. 20: Economic & Resource Justice 鈥� Coretta Scott King- Intersections, Connections, Interdependence