Dreams to Action: Commemorating the life and work of Martin Luther King, Jr.

Four years before he would deliver his iconic "I Have a Dream" speech in Washington, D.C., Martin Luther King, Jr. stood on stage in Lang Hall Auditorium and delivered a speech to an assembled crowd at the University of Northern Iowa. A Waterloo woman who was active in the local Civil Rights movement, Anna Mae Weems, was instrumental in bringing King to campus and believed he would help to galvanize support for the movement locally.

The event will commemorate the life and work of King and
recognize local individuals who were instrumental in bringing him
to the Cedar Valley.

More than 50 years later, UNI will host "Dreams to Action: Dr. Eddie Moore, Jr.'s Perspective on Dr. King's Legacy" at 7 p.m., Monday, Jan. 23, in Lang Hall Auditorium. The event will commemorate the life and work of King and recognize local individuals who were instrumental in bringing him to the Cedar Valley. "Dreams to Action" is free and open to the public.

Martin Luther King, Jr. was an activist and civil rights leader during the African-American Civil Rights Movement of the 50s and 60s. He promoted and participated in nonviolent civil disobedience as a means of advancing civil rights.

Eddie Moore Jr. will serve as the keynote speaker for "Dreams to Action." Moore is the founder of the White Privilege Conference (WPC), which was first held in Mount Vernon, Iowa, in 1999. Since then, the annual conference has been held in a number of major cities across the United States, including St. Louis, Memphis, Minneapolis, Seattle and Philadelphia.