Join CU Boulder for a free event open to students, staff, faculty and local community members to commemorate one of the country’s most influential civil rights leaders: the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Acclaimed journalist Isabel Wilkerson will talk about caste systems around the world, how they become empowered, and what it might be like to disrupt them. Wilkerson will also answer questions and sign copies of her bestselling books, “Caste” and “The Warmth of Other Suns.”

“Freedom intersections,” the theme of the 2025 convocation, will guide a community exploration of how global power dynamics and solidarity have intersected over the decades to propel current and past freedom movements, including the U.S. civil rights movement. Participants will also be invited to consider the following excerpt from Dr. King’s “Letter from a Birmingham Jail” within the present-day context: “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly affects all indirectly.”

More information is available on the convocation webpage.

This event is sponsored by the Center for African and African American Studies, Strategic Resources and Support, University Libraries and the Office of the Senior Vice Chancellor for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion.