By JJ Torres, director of MLK Breakfast and Special Events for MSC WBAC
The MSC Carter G. Woodson Black Awareness Committee welcomes renowned educator, organizer and activist Dr. Angela Y. Davis to the annual Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Breakfast. The event, scheduled for Jan. 18, serves as a formal way at Texas A&M to reflect on the life, legacy and accomplishments of King.
“The impact Dr. Martin Luther King’s teachings had on so many, but especially our committee, is something we hope to share with the entire campus. The MLK Breakfast is a forum that allows the spirit of Dr. King’s dream to continue with the speakers that we invite,” said Trinity Boudreaux ’24, director of diaspora education for MSC WBAC. “As we look toward this year’s event with Dr. Davis as our keynote speaker, it is a great hope of mine and the committee that her words will inspire this generation to understand the importance of action and continuing Dr. King’s legacy.”
The event’s keynote speaker, Davis, has been deeply involved in movements for social justice around the world. Her work as an educator — both at the university level and in the larger public sphere — has always emphasized the importance of building communities of struggle for economic, racial and gender justice. Her teaching career has taken her to San Francisco State University, Mills College and University of California, Berkeley. She also has taught at UCLA, Vassar, Syracuse University, the Claremont Colleges and Stanford University. Most recently, she spent 15 years at UC Santa Cruz, where she is now Distinguished Professor Emerita of history of consciousness — an interdisciplinary Ph.D. program — and of feminist studies.
Davis is the author of 10 books and has lectured throughout the United States as well as in Europe, Africa, Asia, Australia and South America. In recent years, a persistent theme of her work has been the range of social problems associated with incarceration and the generalized criminalization of those communities most affected by poverty and racial discrimination. She draws upon her own experiences in the early ’70s as she spent 18 months in jail and on trial, after being placed on the FBI’s Ten Most Wanted List.
This year’s conversation will be moderated by Rebecca Hankins, professor in the Texas A&M Department of Global Languages and Cultures, College of Arts and Sciences.
Hankins is the Wendler Endowed Professor and a certified archivist who received her master’s in library and information sciences from Louisiana State University. Hankins researches and teaches courses in Africana and religious studies. She served on the National Historical Publications and Records Commission of the National Archives and Records Commission from 2017 to 2020.
Last year, MSC WBAC hosted King’s daughter, Dr. Bernice A. King, at the breakfast. “As a student host last year, it was rewarding to work with Dr. King’s team and be a part of her experience at Texas A&M,” Boudreaux said. “This year, my second time attending and being a host, I hope to create a welcoming experience for Dr. Davis and I am excited to hear her words on how the dream of Dr. King continues.”
The annual MLK Breakfast will begin at 9 a.m. on Jan. 18 in Bethancourt Ballroom in the Memorial Student Center on the Texas A&M campus. Tickets are $25 or $15 for students and can be purchased from the MSC Box Office.