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In celebration of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, the Days-Massolo Center hosted its annual community dinner. This year, attendees were treated to live a jazz ensemble led by Professor of Music Michael Woods and listened to speaker Jennicet Gutiérrez, a trans-liberator activist, before breaking into round table discussions on the topic of select MLK quotes. The event was the first in the DMC’s spring series, “After the Anger, Can You?”

Hamilton College will commemorate Martin Luther King Jr. Day with a lecture and dinner on Monday, Jan. 18, beginning at 5 p.m. in the Tolles Pavilion.  Jennicet Gutiérrez, trans Latina leader with FAMILIA TQLM, will discuss how her activism concerning trans liberation is inspired by the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. The event is free for Hamilton students, faculty and staff but registration is required.

During a time of intense discussions about race relations and a range of other issues on college and university campuses across the nation, similar conversations and demonstrations are occurring on the Hamilton campus.

Phyllis Breland ’80, director of Opportunity Programs and interim director of Diversity and Inclusion at Hamilton College, was featured in “Avoiding Burnout: How 10 CDOs Balance Work with Life” in Insight Into Diversity magazine. Breland is an Arthur O. Eve Higher Education Opportunity (HEOP) graduate of Hamilton.

As both the founder and editor of the blog, Angry Asian Man, Phil Yu began his lecture remarking that, “I guess that kind of makes me the Angry Asian Man, but please, just call me Phil!” In a lecture co-sponsored by the Asian Cultural Society, Hamilton American/Chinese Exchange, and the Days-Massolo Center, Phil Yu shared the story of his journey to find his voice through the blog he started 15 years ago, and how this experience has changed his own approach to claiming and defining his own identity.

Kevin Quashie, a professor of Africana studies at Smith College, discussed issues of the idea of blackness and social perceptions of that identity  in a Hamilton lecture on Oct. 13, and ultimately concluded that the idea of blackness is rooted in social and historical prejudices, especially those relating to resistance and belligerency.

During the Sept. 21 “Empowerment Thru Employment” presentation, Veronika Scott, CEO of Detroit non-profit The Empowerment Plan passionately battled misconceptions about homelessness. Her company, which hires individuals living in homeless shelters to make sleeping bag coats to be distributed to homeless people, emphasizes the importance of pride, independence and helping people help themselves. Hosted by the Days-Massolo Center, “Empowerment Thru Employment” was the second event of this semester’s “Media and Movement” series exploring the role of technology in social justice.

Although social media activism campaigns are started almost daily, seldom do they accomplish their goal of creating and sustaining national interest that lasts for years. Nevertheless, occasionally these movements successfully promote awareness, draw together communities and create lasting conversations that can affect lives across the country, and even the globe. One such campaign is the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement, co-founded by Alicia Garza.

Kimberly Williams, associate director of the Days-Massolo Center, was selected to participate in the Callaloo Creative Writing Workshop held July 12-18 at Oxford University. The competitive program was presented by Callaloo, a quarterly not-for-profit journal of African Diaspora arts and letters.

Dolores Huerta, co-founder of the United Farm Workers (UFW) with Cesar Chavez and recipient of the U.S. Medal of Freedom Award, will give the C. Christine Johnson Voices of Color Lecture, on Friday, April 24, at 5 p.m., in the Chapel. The talk is free and open to the public.