All came with a message advancing social justice and more recently, diversity, equity, and inclusion.<\/p>\n
Just as important, says Norman Burnett, assistant dean and director of the Office of Minority Student Affairs<\/a> (OMSA), they\u2019ve come from an exceptionally wide orbit. They\u2019ve ranged from actors, athletes, activists, and authors, to poets, politicians, jurists, and scholars. \u201cIt\u2019s\u00a0important that our students were and are exposed to a wide range of speakers,\u201d says Burnett, who has served in his leadership role at OMSA since 1997. \u201cThe diversity of speakers remains necessary as they continue to remind us that bias, racism, and discrimination continue to permeate too many aspects of society at home and abroad.\u201d<\/p>\n In celebration of Black History Month, here are profiles of some of the speakers who have visited the River Campus\u2014and their timely messages.<\/p>\n Photos from University Archives, unless otherwise credited.<\/em><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n April 20, 1961<\/em><\/p>\n The future Supreme Court justice was special counsel to the NAACP when he visited the River Campus to present a lecture titled \u201cRacial Tensions: Problems and Prospects.\u201d He argued (using the customary language of the day) that \u201cthe Negro of the South is not the United States\u2019 problem or the world\u2019s problem, but the problem of each individual. When this is realized, the civil rights problem will be solved.\u201d<\/p>\n Six years later, Marshall became the Supreme Court\u2019s first Black justice after being nominated by President Lyndon Johnson. He served until 1991, when he retired due to health issues and was replaced by Clarence Thomas.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n March 11, 1964<\/em><\/p>\n Before he became a towering figure in Congress, serving Georgia for more than three decades, Lewis was national chairman of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC). Only 23 when he came to speak on the River Campus, his talk before about 250 University students had a tone of \u201cimpatience and immediacy of the Civil Rights movement,\u201d according to the Campus Times<\/em>. Lewis, who had spoken at the March on Washington the previous summer, told the Rochester crowd: \u201cNegroes have been waiting for over 100 years for this country to justify itself, and they\u2019re tired of waiting. Throughout the country, the Negro is crying out, \u2018I want to be free\u2014now!\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n October 1, 1964<\/em><\/p>\n Kennedy was running for the Senate, representing New York, when he spoke at Strong Auditorium on a campaign stop. It was less than a year since his brother, President John F. Kennedy, had been assassinated and one month since Robert had resigned as attorney general.<\/p>\n Asked about civil rights legislation, Kennedy said improvements in education for Black children\u2014then, as now, disproportionately underserved\u2014would be crucial. \u201cAll of us who have an education have a special responsibility,\u201d he said. \u201cIf John F. Kennedy\u2019s life stands for anything, it stands for the idea that an individual can make a difference and should try.\u201d<\/p>\n As a senator, Kennedy supported the Voting Rights Act of 1965 and traveled the country to speak about race and poverty. On April 4, 1968, Kennedy announced the death of Martin Luther King Jr. to a mostly Black crowd in Indianapolis. His impromptu speech<\/a> that night is considered one of the most memorable addresses in American history. Two months later, he, too, would be assassinated.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n February 16, 1967<\/em><\/p>\n Early in 1967, the University commemorated the 150th anniversary of the birth of social reformer, abolitionist, and longtime Rochester resident Frederick Douglass by hosting a series of lectures<\/a> dedicated to the 19th-century icon. The first of eight speakers was historian and author Benjamin Quarles, who gave an extensive overview of Douglass\u2019s life.<\/p>\n \u201cHe did hold that the Negro\u2019s white friends could not do for him what he could do for himself,\u201d Quarles said of Douglass. \u201cThe Negro should be his own man.\u201d<\/p>\n Quarles would write 10 books, including two on Douglass, before his death in 1996. Many of his books explored the contributions made by Black soldiers and abolitionists during the Revolutionary War and Civil War.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n May 17, 1971<\/em><\/p>\n The boxing icon had been stripped of his heavyweight title and was facing imprisonment after refusing induction into the US Army during the Vietnam War. He spoke before a packed Alexander Palestra just months after losing an epic championship match to Joe Frazier.<\/p>\n The Campus Times<\/em> called Ali \u201ca poet, dramatist, Black philosopher, comic, and Muslim.\u201d Ali stated that he was proud to be Black.<\/p>\n Six weeks after his Rochester appearance, the Supreme Court would overturn Ali\u2019s conviction unanimously. He would reclaim the heavyweight champion twice more and be widely considered the greatest boxer of all time.<\/p>\n (University of Rochester photo \/ Scott Brande \u201972)<\/em><\/p>\n <\/p>\n April 12, 1974<\/em><\/p>\n Jordan was the first Black person elected to the Texas Senate since Reconstruction and the first from a southern state elected to the US House of Representatives, where she served from 1973 to 1979.<\/p>\n Her talk at Rochester was sponsored by the University\u2019s Afro-American Lecture Series.<\/p>\n A decade after the passage of the Civil Rights Act, the civil rights movement remained a strong force, she told audience members. \u201cBlack America has gone political,\u201d she declared. \u201cIt has seized every opportunity, as though it were the last chance for survival.\u201d<\/p>\n She also cautioned Black Americans against the temptation of separatism. \u201cOur problems are too big for isolationist or separatist politics,\u201d she said. Citing poverty, for example, she told the audience its alleviation would demand congressional action.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n February 15, 1985<\/em><\/p>\n The iconic poet and novelist appeared at Hubbell Auditorium as part of the University\u2019s annual celebration of Black History Month. Richard Mitchell \u201986, president of Black Students\u2019 Union, told audience members that day, \u201cthe observation exists because African Americans have been historically excluded from our education and even derived as fact.\u201d<\/p>\n Angelou said she supported Mitchell\u2019s assertion and underscored it by pointing to many talented but relatively unknown Black poets, urging those in the audience to read their work.<\/p>\n Angelou had also come to campus for a lecture in 1973. She returned in 2003, speaking to a sold-out Palestra. Speaking of the university environment, she said: \u201cIn this place, you can lay your burden down\u2014the burden of ignorance, the burden of racism, the burden or ageism, the burden of sexism. The truth is that it has been created so each of you can become a rainbow in the clouds for those to come. If you think of it that way, it makes your lessons, your homework, a little less tedious.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n January 26, 2001<\/em><\/p>\n The civil rights pioneer was chairman of the NAACP when he delivered the University\u2019s first Martin Luther King, Jr. Commemorative Address<\/a> at a packed Strong Auditorium.<\/p>\n Bond told audience members that popular culture has given Americans an inaccurate view of heroes like King, and people tend to honor him more for his commanding presence than for many of the things he stood for. For example, Bond said, King was a critic of what he saw as the evils of capitalism, and a pacifist \u201cwho equated apartheid in South Africa and South Alabama.\u201d<\/p>\n People who like to quote King\u2019s \u201cI Have a Dream\u201d speech, he concluded, tend to forget that it is \u201ca dream that remains a dream today.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n April 1, 2002<\/em><\/p>\n Berry was the second speaker to deliver the University\u2019s annual Martin Luther King, Jr. Commemorative Address. Then chairwoman of the US Commission on Civil Rights, she gave a talk at the Interfaith Chapel called \u201cEmpowering the Dream,\u201d reminding audience members that everyone must do their part to \u201cbreak down barriers\u201d and ensure that all have access to quality education and health care.<\/p>\n \u201cEven as we cite gains for people of color in the worlds of entertainment, sports, and business, there are large numbers of people in this country who are still at the bottom,\u201d Berry said.<\/p>\n The Nashville native had been appointed to the commission by President Carter early in 1980. When Ronald Reagan defeated Carter and was inaugurated in 1981, he attempted to remove Berry from her position. She took the president to court and won.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n February 13, 2007<\/em><\/p>\n Jackson has been a political activist since the 1960s and worked for Martin Luther King, Jr. at the Southern Leadership Conference in the mid-1960s. When King was assassinated at a Memphis motel in 1968, Jackson was in the parking lot one floor below.<\/p>\n Jackson\u2019s talk at Strong Auditorium was titled \u201cLinked Fate: Injustice Anywhere is a Threat to Justice Everywhere,\u201d based on a quote from King.<\/p>\n \u201cWe must not just admire Dr. King, but we must follow,\u201d Jackson told the audience at Strong Auditorium. \u201cThere is no struggle in admiration because it requires no action. We need to learn the value of living together.\u201d<\/p>\n (University of Rochester photo \/ Richard Baker)<\/em><\/p>\n <\/p>\n January 23, 2009<\/em><\/p>\n The world-renowned poet and activist spoke to a crowd at Strong Auditorium just three days after the historic presidential inauguration of Barack Obama. \u201cIt\u2019s a new day for Black America,\u201d Giovanni said. \u201cObama didn\u2019t become president because he\u2019s Black. He became president because he is a competent man.\u201d<\/p>\n Giovanni credited the Pullman Porters, a group of Black railroad workers who formed the first Black labor union\u2014the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters. \u201cWithout the Pullman Porters, the Civil Rights Movement would not have been financed,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n During her speech, she also championed civil rights for women and for the gay and lesbian communities, adding that she supported same-sex marriage.<\/p>\n \u201cCivil rights are civil rights,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n (University of Rochester photo \/ Brandon Vick)<\/em><\/p>\n <\/p>\n April 12, 2013<\/em><\/p>\n Guinier was the first Black female tenured professor at Harvard Law School, and a prominent civil rights attorney. She came to public attention in 1993 when President Clinton nominated her to head the Civil Rights Division of the US Department of Justice. After vehement political attacks concerning Guinier\u2019s scholarly writings, which explored voting systems such as cumulative voting, used on some corporate boards and school boards, as a means to protecting the political power of minority groups\u2014Clinton withdrew her nomination.<\/p>\n Guinier spoke at Rochester\u2019s annual diversity conference and expressed concerns about whether an upcoming Supreme Court decision would continue to permit race to be a factor in college admissions. She commented that the Supreme Court did not seem eager to have race in the equation for diversity.<\/p>\n (University of Rochester photo \/ J. Adam Fenster)<\/em><\/p>\n <\/p>\n November 5, 2018<\/em><\/p>\n The basketball icon, author, and activist spoke at a packed Palestra, discussing many issues dividing Americans\u2014including racism, economic inequality, and social injustice.<\/p>\n \u201cWe have to overcome fear,\u201d Abdul-Jabbar said. \u201cWe have to learn to appreciate that people of intelligence come in all shapes and sizes and colors. And if we don\u2019t learn to appreciate that, then I think we\u2019re just doomed as a species.\u201d<\/p>\n (University of Rochester photo \/ J. Adam Fenster)<\/em><\/p>\n <\/p>\n March 5, 2019<\/em><\/p>\n Six months before her induction into the National Women\u2019s Hall of Fame, scholar and political activist Angela Davis spoke at Strong Auditorium to discuss \u201cThe University\u2019s Role in Educating Students to be Engaged Citizens.\u201d A leader in social justice for decades, Davis told her Rochester audience, \u201cYoung people have always been at the forefront of change. Always. Revolutions are always in the first place led by younger generations. This is how change happens.\u201d<\/p>\n (University of Rochester photo \/ Adrian Kraus)<\/em><\/p>\n <\/p>\n February 24, 2021<\/em><\/p>\n The antiracist activist and author was named one of\u00a0Time\u00a0<\/em>magazine\u2019s 100 most influential people of 2020<\/a>, and the Covid-19 pandemic prevented him from delivering his address in person. But Kendi told a virtual audience of 3,000<\/a> that \u201cthe very heartbeat of racism is denial,\u2019\u2019 adding that \u201cwhen people say they\u2019re not racist, they\u2019re sharing the words that white supremacists use. Jim Crow segregationists said they weren\u2019t racist. Lynchers argued they weren\u2019t racist; the problem was the people they lynched. Slave owners said the same thing.\u201d<\/p>\n Kendi argued that to be antiracist is to admit that past actions by individuals and by governments were racist and to say, \u201cWhen I supported it, I was being racist, but I\u2019m going to change it and be different.\u201d\u2019<\/p>\n (University of Rochester photo \/ Lori Packer)<\/em><\/p>\n <\/p>\n![\"cover](\"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/black-speakers-Marshall.jpg\")
Thurgood Marshall<\/strong><\/h3>\n![\"a](\"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/black-speakers-Lewis.jpg\")
John Lewis<\/strong><\/h3>\n![\"newspaper](\"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/black-speakers-Jackson-1.jpg\")
Robert Kennedy<\/strong><\/h3>\nBenjamin Quarles<\/strong><\/h3>\n
![\"Muhammad](\"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/black-speakers-Muhammed-Ali.jpg\")
Muhammad Ali<\/strong><\/h3>\n![\"newspaper](\"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/black-speakers-Jordan.jpg\")
Barbara Jordan<\/strong><\/h3>\n![\"two](\"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/black-speakers-Angelou-2.jpg\")
Maya Angelou<\/strong><\/h3>\n![\"Julian](\"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/black-speakers-Bond.jpg\")
Julian Bond<\/strong><\/h3>\n![\"close-up](\"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/black-speakers-Berry.jpg\")
Mary Frances Berry<\/strong><\/h3>\n![\"Jesse](\"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/black-speakers-Jackson.jpg\")
Jesse Jackson<\/strong><\/h3>\n![\"Nikki](\"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/black-speakers-Giovanni.jpg\")
Nikki Giovanni
\n<\/strong><\/h3>\n![\"Lani](\"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/black-speakers-Guinier-1.jpg\")
Lani Guinier<\/strong><\/h3>\n![\"Kareem](\"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/black-speakers-Abdul-Jabbar.jpg\")
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar<\/strong><\/h3>\n![\"Angela](\"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/black-speakers-Davis.jpg\")
Angela Davis<\/strong><\/h3>\n![\"photo](\"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/black-speakers-Kendi-1.jpg\")
Ibram X. Kendi<\/strong><\/h3>\n
\nLearn more<\/strong><\/h3>\n
![\"Interior](\"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/fea-MLK-commemorative-address-20.jpg\")
Celebrating two decades of the MLK Commemorative Address<\/strong><\/a>
\nSince 2001, some of the nation\u2019s highest profile leaders in diversity and civil rights have spoken at this annual event.
\n<\/span><\/div>\n
![\"Components](\"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/fea-mlk-speaker-kendi.jpg\")
Ibram X. Kendi: \u2018The very heartbeat of racism is denial\u2019<\/strong><\/a>![\"close-up](\"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/fea-black-alumni-starburst.jpg\")
Meet the Black Alumni Network<\/strong><\/a>