GLOUCESTER, MA: The Gloucester Meetinghouse Foundation, in collaboration with the Gloucester Racial Justice Team, will present a program to explore the work of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. The goal is to use our history to guide us in light of today’s social, economic, and political challenges.  The featured speaker will be Professor Jamie Wilson, historian from Salem State University and author of a book about Dr. King. The free program will take place on Monday, January 19 at 2:00 p.m. in the historic Gloucester Meetinghouse, home of the Gloucester Unitarian Universalist Church, on the green at 50 Middle Street.  For more information please visit www.gloucestermeetinghouse.org

Professor Wilson is the author of Martin Luther King. Jr.: A Life in American History. New York: Bloomsbury, 2023.  He will discuss the obstacles faced by Dr. King and the struggle for racial equality in both the north and the south after the landmark Supreme Court decisions that banned segregated schools but left many discriminatory practices intact across many industries such as housing and employment.

All are invited to the UU Church Social Hall (downstairs) where Professor Wilson will speak, followed by a video excerpt from a 1967 interview of MLK, Jr. by Sander Vanocur of NBC News.  Participants will then be divided into discussion groups led by trained facilitators. Each group will tackle issues that are relevant to the struggles for human dignity and security that Reverend King championed.  Parking is available on the green in front of the Meetinghouse.  Please enter the Social Hall via the side door at #10 Church Street or the side door from the Gould Court parking area.  Light refreshments will be served.

Organizers of this event include Jerry Ackerman and Karen N. Bell, co-chairs of the Gloucester Meetinghouse Events Committee, and Michea McCaffrey, Chair of the Gloucester Racial Justice Team. A special sponsor of the event is the Beverly & Addison Gilbert Hospitals, a member of Beth Israel Lahey Health.  This annual MLK Day program in Gloucester is part of the Meetinghouse Tenth Anniversary series.