Bestselling author speaking at MLK event

A national bestselling author and columnist will speak with area residents virtually about Martin Luther King Jr.’s legacy in the context of today’s challenges. 

It’s free to hear Michelle Alexander, a legal scholar, social justice advocate, columnist at The New York Times and visiting professor at Union Theological Seminary, from 7-8:30 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 14.  

The annual local King celebration takes place via Zoom. Local hosts are Earlham College, Indiana University East and Richmond’s branch of National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). Registration is available at bit.ly/202401-ec-alexander. 

Alexander will chat with Justina Licata, assistant professor of U.S. history at IUE. 

Alexander wrote The New York Times bestseller “The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness,” which helped spark a national debate about the crisis of mass incarceration and inspired advocacy efforts nationwide. 

The book has been cited in judicial decisions, adopted in campus-wide and community-wide reads, and has inspired a generation of racial justice activists. Alexander argues that “we have not ended racial caste in America; we have merely redesigned it.” 

Alexander has written for numerous publications, including The Washington Post, The Nation, The Los Angeles Times and HuffPost, and has been featured on national radio and television media outlets, including CNN, MSNBC, NPR, MSNBC, C-SPAN and “Democracy Now.”