[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z1UEAhrzI1s[/youtube]
Mark Blackburn, Assistant Dean of Students and Director of Diversity & Inclusion at Augustana University. His talk at 8:00pm followed the 7:00pm business meeting held at the Main Sioux Falls Library.
The Prezi based program included information about the non-profit group he and other community leaders have recently formed called ESC, (Establishing Sustainable Connections). The Vision of ESC is to initiate, support and direct efforts to create and sustain community relationships in Sioux Falls.
Mark also brought up the plans for the Dr. Martin Luther King Celebration week (Jan 13th – 18th) including six days of events commemorating Dr. King’s Legacy with a focus on what the city of Sioux Falls is doing to continue this legacy.
Wednesday, January 13: Children’s Day hosted by the After School Program at the Multi-Cultural Center (515 N.Main Avenue) from 3:15– 5 p.m. Winter survival kits will be distributed.
Thursday, January 14: Education Day hosted by the Sioux Falls School District, featuring community leaders and higher education educators presenting on Martin Luther King Jr., what he did for society, and what can we do to further his work in Sioux Falls. Schools involved are Hawthorne Elementary, Whittier Middle School, and Washington High School.
Order Tickets for the MLK Dream Dinner & Panel Discussion
Friday, January 15: MLK Dream Dinner and Panel Discussion will begin at 6:15 p.m. in the 3-in-1 Room of Morrison Commons with delicious international cuisine. Following the dinner, a panel of influential community leaders and students from various faiths and ethnicity will discuss their perceptions of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s dream and how the communities in Sioux Falls coincide with each other.
Tickets are $12. All proceeds will support the MLK Week celebration. For more details, contact Mark Blackburn at 605.274.4313
Saturday, January 16: Augustana University Volunteer Programs will be conducting a campus-wide MLK Challenge, service initiative for all students, faculty and staff. Participants will complete group challenges based on local community needs while honoring Dr. King’s legacy. The challenge will begin at 10 a.m. in the Morrison Commons 3 -in-1 room.
Sunday, January 17: Community worship service, conducted by All Nations Church. The service will begin at 6 p.m. and will be held at the University of Sioux Falls, Z-Hall, 1101 W. 22nd Street.
Monday, January 18: Commemorative program and closing ceremony, beginning at 7 p.m. in the Edith Mortenson Center Theatre, featuring renowned speaker Rev. Spencer Turnipseed. Turnipseed, a native of Montgomery, Alabama, is a third generation clergyman who comes from a line of prominent social justice advocates in the South. Members of the Turnipseed family were bold, courageous champions for civil rights in the 1950s and 1960s. They became allies with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. beginning in 1954, when Turnipseed’s father, Rev. Dr. Andrew Turnipseed, served as a pastor for a Methodist Church located just two blocks from Dr. King’s Dexter Avenue Baptist Church in Montgomery.