UNC Asheville Presents A Virtual Evening With Eddie Glaude Jr. In Commemoration Of Martin Luther King Jr.

UNC Asheville’s annual commemoration of Martin Luther King Jr. for 2022 will feature a keynote address by New York Times bestselling author and Chair of Princeton’s Department of African American Studies, Eddie Glaude Jr., on Thursday, Jan. 20, 2022. The free virtual event begins at 7 p.m. and is open to everyone. Registration for the event is now open and available through Zoom.

An in-person talkback session for faculty, staff, and students will immediately follow the event at 8:30 p.m. in UNC Asheville’s Highsmith Student Union, Room 228. Hosted by the Africana Studies Department, Black Student Association, Sankofa Living Learning Community, Umoja, and the Student Government Association, this special talkback session allows keynote attendees an opportunity to process with peers the material presented by Eddie Glaude Jr. and discuss concepts offered in the lecture. This auxiliary event is also part of the University commemoration of King.

Considered one of the nation’s most prominent scholars, Eddie Glaude Jr. is an author, political commentator, public intellectual, and passionate educator who examines the complex dynamics of the American experience. His writings, including Democracy in Black: How Race Still Enslaves the American Soul, In a Shade of Blue: Pragmatism and the Politics of Black America, and his most recent, the 2020 New York Times bestseller, Begin Again: James Baldwin’s America and Its Urgent Lessons for our Own, takes a wide look at Black communities, the difficulties of race in the United States and the challenges we face as a democracy.

Glaude is the James S. McDonnell Distinguished University Professor and Chair of the Department of African American Studies at Princeton. He is also on the Morehouse College Board of Trustees. He frequently appears in the media, as a columnist for TIME Magazine and as an MSNBC contributor on programs like Morning Joe and Deadline Whitehouse with Nicolle Wallace. He regularly appears on Meet the Press on Sundays. Glaude also hosts Princeton’s AAS podcast, a conversation around the field of African American Studies and the Black experience in the 21st century.

Glaude is known both for his inspiring oratory and ability to convene conversations that engage fellow citizens from all backgrounds — from young activists to corporate audiences looking for a fresh perspective on diversity, equity and inclusion practices. In 2011, he delivered Harvard’s DuBois lectures. His 2015 commencement remarks at Colgate University titled, “Turning Our Backs,” was recognized by the New York Times as one of the best commencement speeches of the year.