Thirteenth Annual Dr. Martin Luther King Commemoration

January 12-17, 2007, Ragan Theater and Sorensen Student Center

Harding, Pilgrim headline 2007 Commemoration

Dr. Vincent Harding, who worked side by side with Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. in the Civil Rights movement during the 1960s, will deliver the keynote address during the thirteenth annual Martin Luther King, Jr. Commemoration on Jan. 16, 2007 at Utah Valley State College.

Harding, an emeritus professor at the Iliff School of Theology in Denver, called America’s attention to the more controversial and challenging King in his biography Martin Luther King: The Inconvenient Hero. He will speak at the Ragan Theater on the UVSC campus at 1:00. His speech, and all Martin Luther King, Jr. Commemoration events, are free and open to the public.

After delivering the keynote, Harding will participate in a panel at 2:30 on Jan. 16, also in the Ragan Theater. Titled "Negotiating Conflict: Martin Luther King, Jr.'s Legacy in Current Issues," the panel will include local and national Civil Rights leaders and will focus on the relevance of Dr. King's message in the twenty-first century. Harding will also take place in a book-group discussion of Martin Luther King: The Inconvenient Hero on Wed., Jan. 17, at 11:00; please contact Ryan Simmons (863-6290 or simmonry@uvsc.edu) or Michael Freeman (863-8752 or freemami@uvsc.edu) for information about the book group.

In addition, UVSC will host "Hateful Things,” the traveling exhibit of the Jim Crow Museum of Ferris State University, from Jan. 2 through Jan. 27 as part of the Commemoration. The exhibit (http://www.ferris.edu/jimcrow/traveling/) displays racist images and artifacts dating from the 1800s to the present, recontextualizing them so they educate viewers about the legacy of racism in American history. It will appear in the UVSC fourth-floor Library Gallery.

As Dr. David Pilgrim, a sociologist and curator of the Jim Crow Museum, explains in his essay “The Garbage Man: Why I Collect Racist Objects,” “I collect this garbage because I believe, and know to be true, that items of intolerance can be used to teach tolerance.” Pilgrim, who first began collecting racist objects as an adolescent, and whose donated collection formed the basis of the Jim Crow museum, will deliver a public lecture on the museum and its history on January 12 at 1:00 at Centre Stage on the UVSC campus.

The Commemoration also will feature presentations and performances by UVSC students, faculty, and staff, as well as members of the community. For information about this event, please contact Ryan Simmons, coordinator, at 863-6290 or simmonry@uvsc.edu.

Calvary Baptist Gospel Choir to Perform

Directed by Brian Hesleph, the Calvary Baptist Gospel Choir will perform a variety of spirituals and gospel music. Both traditional favorites and contemporary gospel hits will be on the program.

The Rev. France Davis, pastor of Calvary Baptist Church, will narrate the history and inspiration behind the songs, including pieces such as "Help Me to Hold Out" that arose out of the Civil Rights conflicts of the 1960s.

Nationally acclaimed as among the best church choirs of the west, the Calvary Baptist Gospel Choir has performed throughout the nation and overseas. Known for inspirational performances that cause audiences to stand up and clap, the Choir will deliver a performance worth remembering.

"Hateful Things" on display at UVSC

By Bill Taylor,
Ferris State University

OREM - A travelling exhibition depicting Ferris State University's Jim Crow Museum of Racist Memorabilia will visit Utah Valley State College from Jan. 2 through Jan. 27, 2007, as part of the college's Martin Luther King, Jr. Commemoration.

Hateful Things," a sampling of the 4,000 pieces that represent nearly 150 years of anti-Black, racist objects and images, was created by David Pilgrim, Ferris professor of sociology and museum curator, and Carrie Weis-Taylor, coordinator of FSU's Rankin Center Art Gallery. The museum is located in Ferris' College of Arts and Sciences and addresses the relationship between Jim Crow segregation and everyday objects that belittle African-Americans. Some examples are varied Jim Crow memorabilia and caricatured images of Blacks on postcards, games, ashtrays and drinking glasses.

Dr. Pilgrim grew up in Mobile, AL, where he attended segregated schools. One day while shopping, he saw a small "Mammy" figuring for sale. "I bought it and destroyed it in front of the man who sold it to me," he said.

For years after that incident, young Pilgrim purchased and disposed of racially insulting items wherever he found them. The sheer volume of merchandise forced him, eventually, to change his tactic.

I found them at flea markets and garage sales as a kid," said Pilgrim. "Items would offend me, and I'd buy them to destroy them. I got older and recognized the historical significance of these items. I stopped destroying them and started collecting them."

Pilgrim views the collection of images and artifacts not as a traditional museum, but as a learning and teaching laboratory. He seeks to use the images of intolerance to teach tolerance. "I have a goal to create a room that when people come into that room, it changes the way they talk about race," he said.

A visit to The Jim Crow Museum of Racist Memorabilia can evoke strong emotional feelings and has stirred coverage in newspapers from Miami to Los Angeles. A documentary by Pilgrim and Ferris Professor Clayton Rye, "Jim Crow's Museum," was chosen in 2004 for Best Documentary at the Flint Film Festival, Best Professional Video and Best of the Show at the Grand Rapids Festival of the Arts, and Audience Choice Award at the Stony Brook (NY) Digital Video Festival.

The museum's objectives are to:

• Collect, exhibit, and preserve objects and collections related to racial segregation, civil rights, and anti-Black caricatures.
• Promote the scholarly examination of historical and contemporary expressions of racism.
• Serve as a teaching resource for courses which deal, directly or indirectly, with the issues of race and ethnicity.
• Serve as an educational resource for scholars and teachers at the state, national and international levels.
• Promote racial understandingand healing.
• Serve as a resource for civil rights and human rights organizations.

Schedule of Events

January 2-27

Losee Center Library Fourth-Floor Gallery

"Hateful Things": Objects from the Jim Crow Museum of Racist Memorabilia
of Ferris State University
(This exhibit has received funding from the Utah Humanities Council)

Friday, January 12

1:00-2:00 p.m., Centre Stage

Public lecture: "Jim Crow in the Twenty-First Century"
by David Pilgrim, Professor of Sociology, Ferris State University,
and curator of the Jim Crow Museum of Racist Memorabilia
Introduction: Tatiana Cadet, president, UVSC Black Student Union

2:00-3:00 p.m., Centre Stage

Public reception for David Pilgrim

7:30 p.m., Ragan Theater

Calvary Baptist Gospel Choir of Salt Lake City performs:
an evening of music in celebration of Civil Rights
Introduction: Alan Cherry, UVSC Director of Sponsored Research

Monday, January 15

8:30 a.m.-noon, BYU Wilkinson Center

Day of Service, co-sponsored by the UVSC Center for Service and Learning and BYU

Tuesday, January 16

8:30-9:45 a.m., SC 206A

Panel: "Utah Civil Rights Activists"
Moderator: Kathryn French, Professor of Behavioral Sciences, UVSC
Panelists:
Robert "Archie" Archuleta, President, Utah Coalition of La Raza
Dannie Burnett, Utah Civil Rights Activist and NAACP Member
Ethel Hale, Utah Civil Rights and Peace Activist
Lee Anne Walker, Activist and Owner/Operator, HandiVan

10:00-11:15 a.m., Ragan Theater

"Beyond Words: Movement as Sign in Dance and ASL"
Presenters:
Kathie Debenham, Professor of Dance and Associate Dean, School of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences
Amy Markgraf-Jacobson, Assistant Professor of Dance
Bryan Eldredge, Assistant Professor of American Sign Language/Director of Deaf Studies Program
Marden Pond, Independent Composer and UVSC Adjunct Faculty Member
Minnie Mae Wilding-Diaz, Associate Professor of American Sign Language
Will McKinnon, Director, UVSC Studios and Engineering
Students from the UVSC Deaf Studies Program and Dance Department

11:30 a.m.-12:45 p.m., PE 152

"Art as a Vehicle for Social Change"
Featuring:
"Two Thousand Three Hundred and Still Counting," choreographed by Angela Banchero-Kelleher, Assistant Professor of Dance, UVSC
Solo by Zvi Gotheiner, performed by Angela Banchero-Kelleher
"The Tuskegee Experiment," choreographed by Nichole Ortega, Assistant Professor of Dance, UVSC
"Grief Lessons: A Polyart Poerformance Piece," mise-en-scene by Alex Caldiero,
improvisational dance sequences directed by Doris Trujilo, Assistant Professor of Dance,
with collaborations from the dance faculty and students and Theta Naught

Noon-1:00 p.m., Centre Stage

Reception for Dr. Vincent Harding

1:00-2:15 p.m., Ragan Theater

Opening Ceremony
Introduction: William Cobb, Dean, School of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences
Presentation of the Martin Luther King, Jr. Award for the Advancment of Justice and Human Dignity
and the Martin Luther King, Jr. Student/Alumni Award
Presentation of the Donner/Galbraith Memorial Scholarship
Presentation of student paper awards
Keynote speech: Vincent Harding, emeritus professor, Iliff School of Theology,
former director of the Martin Luther King, Jr. Center and author of Martin Luther King: The Inconvenient Hero

2:30-3:45 p.m., Ragan Theater

Panel Discussion: "Negotiating Conflict: Martin Luther King, Jr.'s Legacy in Current Issues"
Moderator: Michael Minch, Assistant Professor of Philosophy, UVSC
Panelists:
Elizabeth Borgwardt, author of A New Deal for the World: America's Vision for Human Rights
David Dominguez, professor, J. Reuben Clark Law School, Brigham Young University
Vincent Harding, author of Martin Luther King: The Inconvenient Hero
Bonner Ritchie, scholar-in-residence, Utah Valley State College

7:00-8:00 p.m., LA 101

Turning Points in History presents:
Elizabeth Borgwardt, author of A New Deal for the World: America's Vision for Human Rights:
"The Genesis of the Modern Human Rights Regime"
Introduction: Lyn Bennett, Associate Professor of History, UVSC
(co-sponsored by the UVSC Peace and Justice Studies Program and the Organization of American Historians)

Wednesday, January 17

9:00-9:50 a.m., SC 206A

Panel discussion: "African Aesthetics and Medieval Christian Revelation in Yiimimangaliso"
Moderator: Keith Snedegar, Chair, Department of History and Political Science, UVSC
Panelists:
Rob Carney, Associate Professor of English, UVSC
Rick McDonald, Associate Professor of English, UVSC
Kim Strunk, Chair, UVSC Department of Dance

10:00-10:50 a.m., SC 213A

Panel: "Representations: Race and Racism in American Film"
Moderator: Ryan Simmons, Assistant Professor of English, UVSC
Panelists:
Robert Cousins, Chair, Department of English, UVSC: "The Home Besieged: Racism and the National Family in The Birth of a Nation"
John Goshert, Assistant Professor of English, UVSC: "Mystifying Structural Racism in Crash"
Chad Howze, UVSC Student: "Losing the Race of Representation: Black Men in the Media"

10:00-10:50 a.m., SC 206A

"Twentieth-Century Slavery: A Monologue"
By Adam Slee, UVSC Student
Introduced by Terry Petrie, Chair, UVSC Department of Theatrical Arts

11:00-11:50 a.m., SC 213A

Book discussion group: Martin Luther King: The Inconvenient Hero, by Vincent Harding
Moderator: Michael Freeman, Director, UVSC Library
Featured guest: Vincent Harding, emeritus professor, Iliff School of Theology
(Please contact Michael Freeman at freemami@uvsc.edu to arrange participation)

11:00-11:50 a.m., SC 206A

Reading: "Writers Speak Out about Civil Rights"
Introduction: Julie Nichols, Assistant Professor of English, UVSC
Readers:
Rob Carney, Associate Professor of English, UVSC: "Fables of Faubus"
Lee Mortensen, Professor of English , UVSC: "News of the Weird: A Fiction"
Jans Wager, Associate Professor of English, UVSC: "Ogden, Jazz, and Joe: Deposing Racism"

12:00-12:50 p.m., SC 206A

Reading: "Poetry of Resistance, Rebellion, and Rights"
Introduction: Karin Anderson, Professor of English, UVSC
Readers:
Aaron Guile, UVSC Student
Laura Hamblin, Associate Professor of English, UVSC

1:00-1:50 p.m., SC 213A

"From 'Sinners' to Citizens: The Americans with Disabilities Act"
Introduced by Oscar Jesperson, Professor of History, UVSC
Presentation by Rick Griffin, Assistant Professor of Political Science, UVSC

1:00-1:50, SC 206A

Panel: "God and the Poor Among Us"
Moderator: Brian Birch, Associate Professor of Philosphy, UVSC
Panelists:
Kathryn French, Professor of Behavioral Sciences, UVSC: "Pragmatics of Poverty"
Michael Minch, Assistant Professor of Philosophy, UVSC: "Jesus: God Made Poor"
Dennis Potter, Assistant Professor of Philosophy, UVSC: "The Poor Is God on Earth"

2:00-2:50, SC 213A

Panel: "Identity, Racial Categories, and Otherness"
Moderator: John Goshert, Assistant Professor of English, UVSC
Panelists:
Grant Moss, Assistant Professor of English, UVSC: "'By Bud of Nobler Race': Multiracial Identity in America"
Tiffany Nez, UVSC Student: "The Lawns Are Killing Me"

3:00-3:50, SC 206A

UVSC's Reel Film Series presents "No Umbrella: Election Day in the City"
Round-table discussion to follow:
Jay DeSart, Assistant Professor of Political Science, UVSC
Jans Wager, Associate Professor of English, UVSC

4:00-4:50, SC 213A

Panel: "Celebrating Diversity in Elementary Classrooms: Getting Beyond the 'Holidays Around the World' Mentality"
Moderator: Nancy Peterson, Associate Professor of Education, UVSC
Presenter: Maggie Laun, Salt Lake School District