Saginaw Valley State University has announced Melissa Harris-Perry as the speaker for its 15th annual Martin Luther King Jr. Regional Celebration at 7 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 17.
Harris-Perry, an award-winning author, sought-after public speaker and accomplished media professional, will join retired Saginaw Public Schools educator and community volunteer Kermit Anderson Diggs for a fireside chat in the Malcolm Field Theatre for Performing arts in SVSU’s Curtiss Hall.
The Martin Luther King Jr. Regional Celebration is a collaboration of SVSU and the Bay Area, Midland Area and Saginaw community foundations.
Harris-Perry is the Maya Angelou Presidential Chair in the Department of Politics and International Affairs and the Department of Women, Gender and Sexuality at Wake Forest University in North Carolina.
Harris-Perry was the first African-American woman to earn a Ph.D. in political science from Duke University. She has served on the faculties of some of the country’s most prestigious institutions.
Harris-Perry is the founder and president of the Anna Julia Cooper Center, whose mission is to advance justice through intersectional scholarship, engaged teaching and intentional action.
Harris-Perry is the author of “Barbershops, Bibles, and BET: Everyday Talk and Black Political Thought” — which won the 2005 W. E. B. Du Bois Book Award from the National Conference of Black Political Scientists — and “Sister Citizen: Shame, Stereotypes, and Black Women in America.”
Harris-Perry was the final host and managing editor of “The Takeaway,” a daily National Public Radio program and podcast that ended earlier this year. From 2012-2016, Harris-Perry hosted the television show Melissa Harris-Perry on MSNBC.
In addition to the address by Harris-Perry, the Jan. 17 program will include the presentation of regional scholarship awards by the Bay Area, Midland Area and Saginaw community foundations to high school seniors who have embodied Martin Luther King Jr.’s ideals.
Officials also will announce the winners of the Drum Major Awards, which recognize members of the Great Lakes Bay Region who advance King’s vision through their community involvement.
The Martin Luther King, Jr. Regional Celebration is free and open to the public, but registration is requested.