Bestselling author Ibram X. Kendi to headline Expressions of King’s Legacy

Author and historian Ibram X. Kendi will be the keynote speaker at Rochester Institute of Technology’s Expressions of King’s Legacy, an annual program dedicated to celebrating the life and impact of Martin Luther King Jr.

The 2024 event will be held from noon to 2 p.m. on Jan. 30 at RIT’s Gordon Field House. The event is free and open to the public. The event will not be live streamed. Registration is requested.

Kendi is the Andrew W. Mellon Professor in the Humanities at Boston University and the founding director of the BU Center for Antiracist Research. He is a contributing writer at The Atlantic and a CBS News racial justice contributor. His relentless and passionate research puts into question the notion of a post-racial society and opens readers’ and audiences’ eyes to the reality of racism in America today. Kendi is the bestselling author of How to Be an Antiracist, Antiracist Baby, and Stamped: Racism, Antiracism, and You, co-authored by Jason Reynolds. In 2020, Time magazine named Kendi as one of the most influential people in the world.

“We continue to bring thought-provoking professionals to RIT in honor of Dr. Martin Luther King, and Dr. Kendi is no exception,” said Keith Jenkins, vice president and associate provost for the Division of Diversity and Inclusion. “Dr. Kendi has developed a new way to look at racism in America today. I encourage all members of our campus and surrounding community to join us for this event.”

Expressions of King’s Legacy is a decades-old celebration at RIT. Beginning in 1982, the Committee for Promoting Pluralism and the Black Awareness Coordinating Committee held the Conference on Racism, which in 2002 was renamed the Expressions of Diversity Conference. In 2010, an annual celebration of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was combined into a week-long event called Expressions of King’s Legacy. The program moved under the Division of Diversity and Inclusion in 2012 and continues as the longest-standing diversity program at the university.

For more information on the event and to register, visit the Expressions of King’s Legacy website.