January 12, 2016
MILWAUKEE — Georgetown University law professor Sheryll Cashin will present a lecture, "The Trumpet of Conscience: MLK's 1967 Message on 'The Impasse in Race Relations' and How We Move Forward in the 21st Century," at ÃÛÌÒÓ°Ïñ Law School on Thursday, Jan. 21, at 12:30 p.m.
In 1967, more than 100 race riots erupted across the nation, including one in Detroit that began with a police raid on an after-hours bar and ended five days later with 43 deaths. In December of that year, Dr. Martin Luther King delivered the first of a series of prestigious Massey lectures on Canadian public radio titled "The Impasse in Race Relations." After his assassination four months later, the lecture series was published in a book, The Trumpet of Conscience.
In this lecture, Cashin will compare the similarities and differences between King's assessment of race relations, poverty, inequality and violence in 1967 to today. The chief similarity, she will argue, stems from the persistence of the American ghetto and the isolation of its residents. The chief difference, she will contend, is that today African Americans have infinitely more allies of other colors than they did in 1967. She will present a vision for transcending current racial divisions and building power among the many who are locked out of opportunity and endure racial and economic violence and exclusion.
Cashin, who teaches a course in race and American law among other subjects at Georgetown Law, is Marquette's 2016 Ralph Metcalfe fellow and the author of Place Not Race: A New Vision of Opportunity in America. A former law clerk to late U.S. Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall, she was born and raised in Huntsville, Ala. Her lecture is sponsored by Marquette Law School, the Raynor Memorial Libraries and the Office of Institutional Diversity and Inclusion.
Seating for the public is at capacity; information on signing up for the waiting list can be found online. Members of the media who are interested in attending should contact Chris Jenkins in the Office of Marketing and Communication.
