Author and cultural critic Roxane Gay will be the keynote speaker for the 2020 Community MLK Celebration in January.

The Community MLK Celebration keynote event will be held on January 23rd, 2020 at 6:30 p.m. at the Paramount Theater. The event is free and open to the public, but tickets are required. Tickets will become available through the Paramount Theater box office (http://www.theparamount.net/) on December 6th, 2019. at 10 a.m.

The event is presented by the University of Virginia Office for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, in partnership with the Frank Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy; Lifetime Learning in the Office of Engagement; the Office of the Executive Vice President and Provost; the Vice Provost for the Arts; the Department of Women, Gender, and Sexuality; the Maxine Platzer Lynn Women’s Center; the School of Data Science; and the Office of the Vice President and Chief Student Affairs Officer.

Author and cultural critic Roxane Gay will be the keynote speaker for the 2020 Community MLK Celebration in January.

The Community MLK Celebration keynote event will be held on January 23rd, 2020 at 6:30 p.m. at the Paramount Theater. The event is free and open to the public, but tickets are required. Tickets will become available through the Paramount Theater box office on December 6th, 2019. at 10 a.m.

The event is presented by the University of Virginia Office for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, in partnership with the Frank Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy; Lifetime Learning in the Office of Engagement; the Office of the Executive Vice President and Provost; the Vice Provost for the Arts; the Department of Women, Gender, and Sexuality; the Maxine Platzer Lynn Women’s Center; the School of Data Science; and the Office of the Vice President and Chief Student Affairs Officer.

Journalist April Ryan responded warmly to the enthusiastic crowd who not only came out on a freezing night Wednesday to hear her remarks at the Paramount Theater, but gave her a standing ovation as she took the stage as the keynote speaker for the 2019 Community Martin Luther King Celebration.

“That warms my heart on this cold night,” she said.

Ryan, who said she prefers to describe herself as a White House correspondent who is also a black woman, joked and chatted with members of the audience as she eschewed the lectern to stroll back and forth across the stage. In a conversational style, she touched on a range of topics from the August 2017 “Unite the Right” rallies in Charlottesville to the legacies of King and black women in American history.

White House Correspondent April Ryan will be the keynote speaker for the 2019 Community MLK Celebration in January.

Ryan's address is set for Wednesday, January 30th, 2019 at 6:30 p.m. at the Paramount Theater. The event is free and open to the public, but tickets are required. Ticket reservations may be made through the Paramount Theater box office: http://www.theparamount.net/event/2019-community-mlk-celebration-keynote-speaker-april-ryan/

The event is presented by the University of Virginia Office of the Vice President and Chief Officer for Diversity & Equity, in partnership with the Frank M. Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy and Lifetime Learning in the Office of Engagement.

Every year, the University of Virginia’s Office of the Vice President and Chief Officer for Diversity and Equity, along with dozens of UVA departments and offices, partners with local organizations to offer a variety of events that echo and continue the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s work for social justice, from interfaith services to talks with leading intellectuals and artists. This year’s schedule runs from Jan. 15 – which is officially recognized as Martin Luther King Jr. Day – through Feb. 5. The theme for the 2018 Community MLK Celebration is “Be the Difference.

Joy Reid, national correspondent for MSNBC and host of "AM Joy" and "The Reid Report," will be the keynote speaker for the 2018 Community MLK Celebration in January. Reid is the author of the book Fracture: Barack Obama, the Clintons and the Racial Divide and is former managing editor of theGrio.com.

Reid's address is set for Tuesday, January 23rd, 2018 at 6:30 p.m. at the Paramount Theater. The event is free and open to the public, but tickets are required. Ticket reservations may be made starting Friday, December 8th at 10am from www.theparamount.net.

Anita Hill has devoted her career to civil rights and women’s rights since those days in 1991 when she boldly testified about sexual harassment during U.S. Senate hearings for Supreme Court nominee Clarence Thomas. Hill, for many years now a Brandeis University professor, spoke Thursday night to a packed Paramount Theater as the keynote speaker for the University of Virginia’s 2017 Community MLK Celebration to commemorate the life and legacy of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

On March 21, 1963 the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. came to the University of Virginia to speak about civil rights.

Wesley Harris (Engr ’64), then chairman of the local chapter of the Virginia Council on Human Relations, was one of the students instrumental in bringing King to Charlottesville. For Harris, the visit was life changing. Years later Dr. William (Bill) Harris served as Dean of the Office of African American Affairs from 1976-1981.

On January 23, 2017 at 2:00 p.m., a plaque commemorating Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s speech will be unveiled in the auditorium of Old Cabell Hall. Donated by brothers William and Wesley Harris, the plaque will forever be a reminder of the speech that brought Dr. King’s legacy to UVA and Charlottesville.

Members of the media are invited to cover the unveiling and should arrive at 1:45 for interviews.

"A time comes when silence is betrayal,” the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. said in 1967, speaking out against the war in Vietnam. Those words serve as the theme for the 2017 Community MLK Celebration. More than 15 events at the University of Virginia and in Charlottesville between Jan. 16 and Jan. 30 – from films and music to national speakers on issues of social justice and equality – will explore the concept of “Silence as Betrayal.")

Anita Hill, University Professor of Social Policy, Law, and Women's Studies at Brandeis University, will be the keynote speaker for the 2017 Community MLK Celebration in January. Hill is a leader in both the civil rights and women’s rights movements and an expert on the complex and often challenging issues of race, gender, and workplace discrimination in America. In 1993, Hill made sexual harassment in the workplace a national issue when she testified that Supreme Court Justice nominee Clarence Thomas had committed sexual harassment against her.

Hill's keynote speech is set for Thursday, January 26, 2017 at 6:30 p.m. at the Paramount Theater. The event is free and open to the public, but tickets are required.

THIS EVENT IS SOLD OUT. THE DAY OF THE EVENT, ANY UNCLAIMED TICKETS WILL BE RELEASED AT 6:20 PM AT THE DOOR TO PATRONS IN THE STANDBY LINE.