the msc carter g woodson black awareness committee (msc wbac) will welcome dr bernice a king for the annual reverend dr martin luther king jr breakfast the event will be held jan 26 at 9 am in the bethancourt ballroom at texas a&m universitys memorial student center organizers say the event serves as a formal way to reflect on the life legacy and accomplishments of martin luther king jr our hope is to not only honor dr king but to create opportunities and to make his legacy relevant for the campus and local community said jj torres mlk and special event director for msc wbac we hope to utilize the passion and spirit associated with dr king the civil rights movement and other leaders of the past to inspire and foster a spirit of action in the leaders of today and tomorrow its with this in mind we are excited to announce dr bernice a king as this years keynote speaker bernice king is a minister attorney and daughter of martin luther king jr she is a global thought leader strategist solutionist orator peace advocate and ceo of the martin luther king jr center for nonviolent social change (the king center) which was founded by her mother coretta scott king as the official living memorial to the life work and legacy of her father bernice king holds a doctorate of law from emory university a master of divinity from candler school of theology at emory university and a bachelors degree in psychology from spelman college she received an honorary doctor of divinity from wesley college and clinton college in 2013 she spearheaded let freedom ring an event commemorating the 50th anniversary of the march on washington and her fathers i have a dream speech she is a licensed attorney and member of the state bar of georgia; a certified mediator with the state of georgia; a member of alpha kappa alpha sorority incorporated the international womens forum (iwf) and the national council of negro women; and a board member of the national black bank foundation and faith & prejudice the program will begin with the singing of the black national anthem lift every voice and sing led by voices of praise and century sounds an ensemble of century singers dr annie s mcgowan vice president and associate provost for diversity will provide opening remarks this years conversation will be moderated by dr troy harden director of the race and ethnic studies institute (resi) in the texas a&m college of arts and sciences harden has more than 25 years of experience working in higher education and community settings his ongoing research interests are in racial equity community violence and social trauma and interventions within community and organizational settings he recently developed and led northeastern illinois universitys master of social work program he has worked closely with communities partnering for peace an effort to develop violence interventions for african american and latino street outreach workers addressing violence in chicago he is the lead researcher with the bureau of justice assistances crime reduction grant partnering with the englewood public safety task force the program will conclude with a q&a session with king and harden tickets for the annual mlk breakfast can be purchased from the msc box office