MLK Day Events in the Village

Antioch College joins with Village to celebrate Martin Luther King Jr. Day

Antioch College, in conjunction with African American Cross Cultural Works (AACW) and Central Chapel A.M.E. Church, will host a series of events on Monday, January 16 in recognition of the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day of Service.

The day’s events—which begin at 10 a.m. and end late afternoon— include a panel discussion on the Antioch College experience through the eyes of its students of color, past and present. The panel will be facilitated by educator and activist Prexy Nesbitt, a 1967 alumnus and former Antioch College trustee. Panelists include Nargees Jumahan ’15 (current Antioch College student); Shelby Chestnut ’05; Devon Berry ’99; Robin Henry ’81; and Maceo Cofield ’71.

About Prexy Nesbitt

Nesbitt is an educator, activist and scholar, having lectured both in the United States and abroad. He has written extensively, publishing a book and articles in more than twenty international journals. He also served as a co-writer on the BBC production of The People's Century program "Skin Deep," about racism in the United States and South Africa.

Nesbitt has been highly active in labor and equality movements, beginning as an undergrad at Antioch College in the 1960s where he organized fellow students to integrate a local barbershop which refused to cut black hair. In 1967, he co-founded the Antioch Committee for a Free South Africa to encourage the College to divest from investments in South African businesses that profited from apartheid (the initiative was successful ten years later).

He continued his commitment to equality and service by organizing on the West side of Chicago with Martin Luther King Jr. in the 1960s; helping direct the World Council of Churches program to combat racism in the late 1970s from Geneva, Switzerland; serving as a program officer for the MacArthur Foundation in the 1990s and as a special aide to Chicago Mayor Harold Washington; serving as the dean of students and dean of community engagement and diversity at the prestigious Francis W. Parker school in Chicago; and, most recently, as an African history professor at Columbia College.

Event Schedule | January 16, 2012

10:00 a.m. Warm beverages and music
Coretta Scott King Center, Antioch College
Music by Christopher Smith

10:30 a.m. Yellow Springs MLK Jr. Day march
Mills Lawn Elementary, 200 S Walnut St., Yellow Springs, OH

11:00 a.m. African American Cross-Cultural Works’ program
Central Chapel A.M.E. Church, 411 S High St., Yellow Springs, Ohio
Guest Speaker: Prexy Nexbitt '67

3:00 p.m. Facilitated panel discussion on the “Antioch adventure” as experienced by students of color through the generations, led by alumnus and former Trustee Prexy Nesbitt ‘67
McGregor Hall, Room 113, Antioch College

In addition, the College’s Miami Valley Alumni Chapter will hold a brief meeting at 2:30 p.m. in McGregor Hall, Room 113 on the campus. Presentations by Cezar Mesquita, dean of admission and financial aid; Susan Eklund-Leen, dean of cooperative education; Tom Haugsby, cooperative education consultant; and Maya Nye, alumni relations officer for volunteer management will be given. A monthly alumni social will follow at 6 p.m. at Peach’s Grill, 104 Xenia Ave., Yellow Springs, Ohio.