Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day Teach-In 2024

 

BLOOMINGTON, Ill. — The 2024 edition of the Martin Luther King, Jr. Teach-In at Illinois Wesleyan was the 20th anniversary of the event. For this reason, Sharla Brown-Ajayi and Professor Jim Simeone worked to make it an extra special event. The Teach-In’s poster read “Bending
the arc toward justice” in honor of Dr. King’s famous quotation: “The arc of the long universe is broad, but it bends toward justice.” In this way, we reminded ourselves that the arc does not bend on its own; our actions help it along.

The Teach-In’s theme was environmental justice. The lineup of national, state, and local-focused speakers followed the original design first laid out in 2004. Each speaker supplied questions for the Teach-In, and students had time to discuss the questions at their tables during each hour-long session.

At 1 p.m., Dr. Cedric Taylor focused on the national issue of the Flint water crisis. At 2 p.m., Dr. Chris Cooper spoke about the urban gardening program he pioneered in Tennessee. At 3 p.m., IWU Alumna Chloe Bell '19 focused on redlining in Chicago and her organization’s efforts to vindicate the rights of the environmentally disadvantaged.

In addition, the speakers joined the University President and others for a luncheon
where they and Emeritus Professor (and co-founder of the Action Research Center) Jim
Sikora was awarded the International Association for the Advancement of Creative
Maladjustment (IAACM) T-Shirts.