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Keuka College to Hold Listening Event for MLK Speech

The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. at Keuka College
Keuka College

On June 16th, 1963 the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. delivered the Baccalaureate Address at Keuka College. A recording of that speech was uncovered recently and will be shared at a listening event tonight. A public discussion will follow led by Dr. James K. Evans of Colgate Rochester Crozer Divinity School. Dr. Evans believes the message of the speech resonates 55 years later in an increasingly polarized society.

“Are you able to see other people with whom you have fundamental disagreements, are you able to see anything in them that says that you share a sort of common humanity with them? Are you able to see that?”
 
The speech draws from Dr. King’s “Three Dimensions of a Complete Life” sermon. While many of the words are available in transcripts elsewhere, Dr. Evans appreciates both the opportunity to hear them delivered by Dr. King and to continue to tell these stories as we approach the 50th anniversary of his assassination.
 
“Stories that do not get told over and over again eventually die. That’s why it’s important for us to continue to tell this story, because the stories that King told were stories about the past, present, and future of humanity.”
 
The public broadcast of Dr. King’s speech happens at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, February 20th in Norton Chapel on the campus of Keuka College. More information is on their website.

Kelly Walker started his public radio career at WBAA in West Lafayette, Indiana in 1985 and has spent some time in just about every role public broadcasting has to offer. He has spent substantive time in programming and development at KWMU in St. Louis, WFIU in Bloomington, Indiana, and Troy Public Radio in Alabama before his arrival in Geneva, New York. In addition, his work has been heard on many other public radio stations as well as NPR. Kelly also produces The Sundilla Radio Hour, which airs Sundays at 1 p.m. on Finger Lakes Public Radio and is distributed to public radio stations all over the country through PRX.
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