"Where Do We Go From Here - Chaos or Community"

Martin Luther King, Jr Day of Celebration
Monday, January 19th, 2009 - Ithaca, NY

• 9:00 a.m - City of Ithaca unveiling of Martin Luther King Jr./State Street - Corner of MLK/State & Albany Street
• 9:30 a.m. - 11:30 a.m - Activities for children & adults - GIAC, 318 N. Albany Street
• 11:30 a.m. - 1:30 p.m - Luncheon - BJM, 302 W. Buffalo Street

The annual celebration of the life and work of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. will begin with activities for children and adults held at the Greater Ithaca Activities Center from 9:30am until 11:30am.

Childrens Activities

• The Ithaca Children's Garden hands-on Seed Mosiac project
• The Family Reading Partnership featuring Sing Along Songs with Cal Walker and John Simon plus Storytelling by Jackie Melton Scott
• The Johnson Art Museum
• The History Center

Adult Workshop

From King to Obama: Where do we go from here?

The MLK Community Build invites everyone to an engaging dialog centered on comparing speeches given by Martin Luther King, Jr. and President-elect Barack Obama. What are the issues facing our nation, then and now? Does Obama’s election to the highest office signify a realization of MLK’s dream? After this historic, grassroots-led campaign to elect Obama president, how do we keep up the effort of organizing around race, class and environmental issues? In short, where do we go from here?

Presenters: Eric Acree, Director Africana Library Kim Fontana, Director, Staff Dev. & Research, ICSD Brenda Kuhn, Community Member Andy Yale, Ithaca City School District Elizabeth Field, Multicultural Resource Center

Luncheon

The luncheon, free to the public, features keynote speaker Locksley Edmondson, Professor of African & Caribbean Politics and International Relations, Africana Studies & Research Center at Cornell University. Music will be provided by local musicians including the GIAC and Ithaca children's choirs, lively jazz with Fe Nunn and Mike Vitucci, and performances by Stel Whitehead, Leslyn McBean-Clairborne and Thousands of One. The luncheon is held at Beverly J. Martin from 11:30am until 1:30pm.

The day is organized by the Greater Ithaca Activities Center; Multicultural Resource Center; CRESP Center for Transformative Action; Cornell Public Service Center; Campus Life at Cornell University; Cornell Cooperative Extension TC; GreenStar Cooperative Market; Ithaca College's Office of Multicultural Affairs; Ithaca College's Center for Student Leadership and Involvement and community members.

This event is free and all are welcome. For information contact GIAC at (607) 272-3622.

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