Martin Luther King III to speak as part of Black History Month

January 31, 2007

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Martin Luther King III, son of the late civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr., will be speaking on the University of Florida campus, as part of February Black History Month events.

King’s address will take place at 8 p.m., Wednesday, Feb. 7, at the Phillips Center for the Performing Arts. The free event is sponsored by ACCENT Speakers Bureau and Black History Month and is open to the public.

As the current president and chief executive officer of The King Center in Atlanta, King is carrying on his father’s mission of a nonviolent movement of justice, equality and peace. He has worked on this front on both national and international levels.

In the 1980s, King was jailed for protesting South African injustices against Nelson Mandela. He also has fought other injustices against political power in Haiti, Nigeria and Sierra Leone.

King has spoken to the United Nations on the prejudice against individuals affected and living with AIDS, and he was a proactive leader in reaching anti-racial profiling resolutions.

In 1986, King was elected as an at-large representative of more than 700,000 residents of Fulton County, Ga. His tenure on the Board of Commissioners was marked by legislation regulating minority business participation in public contracting, strong ethics legislation, purification of the county’s natural water resources and stringent hazardous waste disposal requirements.

Elected the fourth president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, the organization that his father co-founded in 1957, King has aggressively continued his father’s dream. He currently leads a nonprofit coalition “Realizing the Dream,” that is dedicated to the core message of his father’s vision, and works to end poverty in the United States.

ACCENT Speakers Bureau, the largest student-run speakers’ bureau in the nation, has been bringing prominent speakers to the University of Florida since the 1960s. ACCENT strives to bring controversial and influential speakers to the university, with the intent of further educating the student body, outside of the classroom, on current topics and controversies. Past speakers include presidents, prime ministers, entertainment, media, business and sports legends.

For persons with disabilities requiring special accommodations, contact (352) 392-1663, ext. 302 or (352)392-2567 (TDD). E-mail accommodate@sg.ufl.edu or contact the Florida Relay System at 1-800-955-8771 at least 72 hours before the event. Real Time Transcription will be provided. For more information, call ACCENT at (352) 392-1665, ext. 306 or the information line at ext. 411. Visit the Web at http://www.sg.ufl.edu/accent/ or e-mail ACCENT at accent@sg.ufl.edu.