Annual Martin Luther King Breakfast Set For Jan. 22
Diane Judith Nash, a leader and strategist for the student wing of the 1960s Civil Rights Movement, will be the featured speaker at the 8th Annual Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Breakfast, which will be held from 9:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. Thursday (Jan 22) in the Memorial Student Center’s Bethancourt Ballroom.
Organizers with the MSC Woodson Black Awareness Committee (MSC WBAC) say the MLK Breakfast serves as a formal way to reflect on the life, legacy and accomplishments of Dr. King. They say the goal is not only to honor him but also to make his legacy relevant for the university and its students, faculty and administration.
Historian David Halberstam described Nash as “…bright, focused, utterly fearless, with an unerring instinct for the correct tactical move at each increment of the crisis; as a leader, her instincts had been flawless, and she was the kind of person who pushed those around her to be at their best, or be gone from the movement.”
Nash appears in the award-winning documentary film series Eyes on the Prize, in PBS’ 2011 American Experience documentary on the Freedom Riders, and is featured in Halberstam’s book The Children, as well as Diane Nash: The Fire of the Civil Rights Movement, and the movie Selma (2014). Nash is portrayed by Tessa Thompson in the film.
Her later honors include Distinguished American Award from the John F. Kennedy Library and Foundation (2003),The LBJ Award for Leadership in Civil Rights from the Lyndon Baines Johnson Library and Museum (2004) and the Freedom Award from the National Civil Rights Museum (2008).
Tickets for the MLK Breakfast are available at the MSC Box Office by calling (979) 845-1234 or tickets@msc.tamu.edu.
Organizers say they hope the passion and spirit associated with King, the Civil Rights Movement and other leaders of the past will inspire and foster a positive spirit of action in the leaders of today and tomorrow.
Nash joins a list of notable speakers for the breakfast that have included actor Danny Glover, entertainer Harry Belafonte, and Dr. Eric Michael Dyson.
For more information, contact Lyndon Pryor, Woodson Black Awareness Committee adviser, at (979) 845-1515 or lyndon@msc.tamu.edu.
Media contact: Tura King, Texas A&M Division of Marketing & Communications.
