The public is invited to join the ¶À¼ÒºÚÁÏ community in observing Martin Luther King Jr. Day on Monday, Jan. 20, with a keynote address by Dr. Jaimee Swift, a panel on local activism, and a variety of concurrent sessions focused on related topics.

The theme for 2025’s event is “Voices of Empowerment.” It will include opportunities for the entire community to engage in thoughtful, informed explorations of the issues that defined King’s life and legacy, including nonviolence and direct action as tools for social change, altruistic love, the courage to stand up for truth and justice, and resistance to oppression and exploitation.

Swift, an assistant professor of political science at James Madison University, earned her doctorate from Howard University, specializing in Black politics, international relations, and comparative politics. Her academic interests include Black political thought and behavior, with an emphasis on Black feminist political theory, resistance, and movement building. Her research examines Afro-Brazilian LGBTQ+ women’s organizing in Salvador, da Bahia, Brazil.

Swift is also the executive director and founder of Black Women Radicals, a Black feminist advocacy organization dedicated to uplifting and centering Black women and gender-expansive people's radical activism in Africa and in the African Diaspora. 

Concurrent will run from 9:30-10:15 a.m. and 3-3:45 p.m. in various locations on campus.

Swift’s keynote address will be from 1:15-2:45 p.m. in the Centrum of the Knutson Campus Center.

The panel on local activism will feature Fred Edwards, LexX Francis, and Zinnia Marquette from 10:30-11:45 a.m. in the Centrum.

Edwards is the driving force behind , a 16-week leadership endeavor in the Fargo-Moorhead area, and , an organization that creates low-cost cultural community events. Francis is a community activist and speaker. Marquette is a diversity and inclusion coordinator at Minnesota State University Moorhead.

For more information, visit ¶À¼ÒºÚÁÏCollege.edu/MLK.