Ruby Dee to Give MLK Lecture at UNC

Posted on Jan. 7, 2008

Actor, activist and author Ruby Dee will deliver the keynote lecture for UNC’s 27th annual Martin Luther King Birthday Celebration at 7 p.m. Jan. 22 in Memorial Hall.

Numerous activities will take place on campus during the celebration, from Jan. 20-25.

A longtime civil rights advocate, Dee has worked with the NAACP, the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee, the Southern Christian Leadership Council and other groups.

“Dee used the power she gained as an artist to bring about political change,” said Timothy McMillan, assistant professor of Afro-American studies and a member of the MLK Birthday Celebration Planning Committee. Dee, featured recently in the film American Gangster, also is known for her roles in the 1961 classic Raisin in the Sun and the television series Touched By an Angel.

Free tickets (limit two per person) for Dee’s lecture will be available beginning Jan. 16 at the Memorial Hall Box Office (843-3333, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.).

Many of this year’s MLK events will focus on connections between art and activism. On Jan. 24, filmmaker Michèle Stephenson will attend the North Carolina debut of her award-winning documentary Faces of Change. The film follows the stories of five activists working to eradicate racism in New Orleans, Mauritania, India, Brazil and Bulgaria. A discussion with Stephenson will follow the screening.

The program will begin at 5 p.m. in the auditorium of the FedEx Global Education Center, at the corner of Pittsboro and McCauley streets. Limited parking is available under the building off McCauley.

---