Each year, the Rhode Island School of Design (RISD) in Providence, Rhode Island hosts the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Series (MLK Series) of programming to commemorate the life of the civil rights leader, as well as continue his legacy of pursuing social justice, which includes a community service day, workshops and a keynote speech, among other celebrations. The 2017 keynote will be given by the artist, educator and activist Emory Douglas, who was the Blank Panther Party’s minister of culture from 1967-80 and contributed drawings and cartoons to the Black Panther Newspaper. “Emory Douglas’s artwork, vision and legacy are as relevant today as they were during his time with the movements of the 1960s and 70s,” Tony Johnson, the dean of student affairs and chair of the committee for this year’s MLK Series, says in a statement. Douglas’s keynote, scheduled for this Friday, 20 January at 6:30pm, will be live streamed.
