Celebrate the Dream: Tribute to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

Mylie Evers-Williams could have been forgiven for throwing in the towel in the fight against Jim Crow in Mississippi on the night of June 23, 1963. She and her husband, Medgar Evers, then the NAACP's Mississippi field secretary, were making measurable progress in moving America toward equality. But as Medgar was returning home that night—the same night President Kennedy delivered a speech to the nation supporting civil rights—an assassin was waiting and murdered Medgar with a single bullet to the back. But Myrlie didn't quit the Civil Rights movement after Medgar's death, she didn't quit after Kennedy's murder, and she didn't quit after Martin Luther King Jr. was gunned down. Through the decades she persevered and thrived. In 1995 she became the first woman named chairperson of the NAACP. She's written three books, and she continues to speak across the nation in support of the cause for which her husband lost his life. This year, Minneapolis Community and Technical College's celebration brings Myrlie to tell her story, and gospel acts James Grear and Company and the Minneapolis Youth Chorus will fill the Basilica with music. KARE-TV reporter Roxanne Battle emcees.
Tue., Jan. 15, 7 p.m., 2008