Coastal Carolina University will host its annual Martin Luther King Jr. Week Celebration from Jan. 17-26. With the theme “Plant Your Roots: Community Engagement to Foster Growth,” this year’s events aim to promote and advance King’s legacy and honor his work toward diversity, equity, inclusion, and justice.

The celebration is hosted by CCU’s Intercultural and Inclusion Student Services (IISS) and the MLK Celebration Planning Committee.

“We are excited to for this year’s celebration to commemorate the late Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.,” said Joshua Moore, director of Intercultural and Inclusion Student Services. “We were very intentional with the theme for this year’s series of events. Our hope is that the community will attend these events and find ways to continue the important work of equity and justice as we move throughout the year.”

Events are as follows:

Jan. 17-20

CCU faculty and staff will lead workshops, lectures, and presentations in various locations throughout the week. The series, called MLK Teach-Ins, will feature topics that represent aspects of MLK’s philosophy – an awakening of awareness, liberation, and engagement. A detailed schedule will be released on the IISS events page Friday, Jan. 13.

Saturday, Jan. 21

IISS and the Office of Community Engagement will host Saturday of Service, with volunteer opportunities at two service sites: the Conway Community Garden and Hasty Point Plantation (in Plantersville, S.C.). CCU will provide transportation for those who need it, with buses departing from campus at 10 a.m. and returning by 2 p.m. To register, click here.

Monday, Jan. 23

Rabbi Sandra Lawson will deliver the MLK Celebration keynote address at 6 p.m. in Edwards Recital Hall. Lawson grew up in a non-religious home in a military family. While in college, she joined the United States Army, and, in 2004, converted to Judaism. In 2011, she became the first African American accepted into the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College. Lawson works with senior staff, lay leaders, clergy, rabbinical students, and Reconstructionist communities to help Reconstructing Judaism realize its deeply held aspiration of becoming an anti-racist organization and movement. In her role, she is developing a series of anti-racist policies and trainings for the organization and its affiliate members. She also serves as a mentor to rabbinical students.

Thursday, Jan. 26

Playwright Ira Knight will present “From Myth to Man: Martin Luther King, An Interpretation,” a one-person stage play about King, at 6 p.m. in the Lib Jackson Student Union’s Coastal Theater. A breathtaking performance that transforms the American civil rights and international human rights leader from mythical icon to authentic human being, “From Myth to Man” is an enlightening, thoughtful, and engaging presentation of the many complex facets of King that are rarely exposed: human, father, husband, and brother. There will be a talk-back facilitated by Knight immediately following the performance.