Expert on community violence will be featured at Syracuse University’s 19th Annual Martin Luther King Jr. Celebration

Expert on community violence will be featured at Syracuse University’s 19th Annual Martin Luther King Jr. CelebrationJanuary 08, 2004Kelly Homan Rodoskikahoman@syr.edu

Editor’s note: All three MLK venues-the 11 a.m. community event at People’s AME Zion Church, the 3 p.m. seminar and the 6:30 p.m. program in the Carrier Dome-are open to the media. Please call SU News Services at 443-3784 for further information. Recipients of the 2004 Unsung Heroes Award will be announced early next week.

The 19th Annual Martin Luther King Jr. Celebration will be held in Syracuse University’s Carrier Dome on Jan. 17. The celebration, “Planting A Seed, Growing The Dream,” will feature a keynote address by Geoffrey Canada, president and chief executive officer of the Harlem Children’s Zone in New York City, and choral music by a mass choir, composed of University and community vocalists, and SU’s Black Celestial Choir Ensemble.

The program begins at 6:30 p.m. and is free and open to the public. The dinner portion of the event begins at 5:30 p.m. A limited number of dinner tickets–$20 per person–are available and may be purchased by calling 443-5044. Tickets will not be available at the door.

Canada will also appear earlier in the day at an 11 a.m. celebration sponsored by the Syracuse Region Martin Luther King Jr. Commission at People’s AME Zion Church, 2306 S. Salina St., and he will present a 3 p.m. seminar in Maxwell Auditorium on the SU campus. Both events are free and open to the public.

“The Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Celebration Committee is very excited to have Geoffrey Canada as this year’s keynote speaker,” says Hendricks Chapel Dean Thomas V. Wolfe. “His commitment to addressing the issues related to youth violence are not only timely for our community, but also essential to how we imagine living responsibly in community. His message will be words of both truth-telling and hope.”

The program will include oral dramatizations of the “I Have a Dream” speech by students from Nottingham High School in Syracuse and SU’s College of Visual and Performing Arts, as well as the presentation of the 2004 Unsung Heroes and Heroines Awards.

Canada is the acclaimed author of “Fist, Stick, Knife, Gun: A Personal History of Violence in America” (Beacon Press, 1995) and “Reaching Up for Manhood” (Beacon Press, 1998).

A native of the South Bronx, Canada has dedicated his life to helping children who grew up in conditions similar to those faced by his family secure both educational and economic opportunities.

The Harlem Children’s Zone (HCZ) is a pioneering, nonprofit, community-based organization that works to enhance the quality of life for children in some of New York City’s most devastated neighborhoods. HCZ’s 15 centers serve more than 12,600 children and adults.

Canada was the recipient of the first Heinz Award in 1994 for his work with HCZ. In May 1994, Canada hosted “Jobs: A Way Out?” a special that aired nationally on PBS and explored the importance of employment opportunities for youth in keeping them from following a path of violence.