The week's activities will center on a keynote speech by civil rights attorney Morris Dees at 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday in Memorial Hall. Dees' lecture, titled "A Passion for Justice," will address King's call to serve others.
Founder of the Southern Poverty Law Center, Dees has won a multitude of awards and published three books. He is well-known for his lawsuits against hate groups such as the neo-Nazis and the Ku Klux Klan.
"His role as a champion for justice in the South makes him a particularly enlightening speaker," Ervin said. "He offers a real-life experience at the personal cost that he has had to endure on his life's mission of eliminating racial hate groups in our society."
A candlelight vigil will be held at 6:30 p.m. in the Pit, followed by a march to Memorial Hall to hear Dees.
The final note of festivities will take place on at 7 p.m. Jan. 19 in the Great Hall, where the Black Student Movement will present "I, Too, Sing America," a compilation of performances dedicated to King's dream. The program will include singing by the Clef Hangers and Tar Heel Voices, student performances and poetry and prose readings.
Jokena Smith, vice president of BSM, said she is enthusiastic about the week's conclusion. "Our major role is to put on an end-of-the-week program that ties everything together, and this year it's 'I, Too, Sing America.' This holiday is monumental -- the right thing is to pay our respect to him," she said.
The week of festivities is coordinated primarily by the Chancellor's Committee for the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Birthday Celebration. Archie Ervin, director of minority affairs, serves as the committee's head.
The committee began planning in early September and finished during the last week of classes -- a total of 13 weeks of preparation. "(The King holiday) speaks of community and honors the differences and the oneness that we all have as humans," Ervin said.
In a separate event planned by the Chapel Hill Historical Society, journalism Professor Chuck Stone will give a speech entitled "Remembering Martin ... A Dear Friend" at 10 a.m. Monday. Stone, a close friend of the late King, met him in 1959 when Stone was editor of The New York Age, a weekly black newspaper.
