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EMU to celebrate MLK with week's worth of events

Eastern Michigan University will celebrate Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, 2008, with a weeklong celebration of discussion, performance, community service and a memorial march.

REMEMBERING KING: Eastern Michigan University
hosts its annual MLK Day Celebration Monday, Jan.
21. The remembrance will include a President's
Luncheon, keynote speaker Jeff Johnson from the
BET, a number of seminars and a candlelight walk.

Events begin Thursday, Jan. 17, and are scheduled through the actual MLK Day celebration Monday, Jan. 21, highlighted by the President's Luncheon, which will feature keynote speaker Jeff Johnson, advocate for social change and BET's "Cousin Jeff."

Johnson will present "Unclaimed Legacy: Who Will Lead the Next Social Movement?" a discussion about the importance of finding new leaders to continue the legacy of Martin Luther King, Jr., Monday, Jan. 21, 10 a.m., in the Student Center Grand Ballroom.

Johnson, chief executive officer of the lifestyle-consulting firm, Truth Is Power, based in Washington, D.C., has served as national youth director for the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) and as vice president of Russell Simmons' Hip-Hop Summit Action Network.

"Some of the leaders and social activists of the past are disconnected with much of America's youth," said EMU senior Victor Walker. "Jeff Johnson brings a sense of value and legitimacy to the voice of the hip hop generation while sharing the messages consistent with those of yesteryear."