GREETINGS FROM THE DIRECTOR
January 20, 2025
Dear Griot Family and Friends,
I hope you had a restful break. Welcome to 2025. For those on campus we wish you a thought provoking semester with us. For those outside campus reading this, we wish you a well guided end of Winter and anticipated, soon to arrive, Spring weather.
As we enter a new year and semester, there are a wealth of opportunities for us to gather and discuss our ideas and research in community together. We encourage you to come out for The Griot Institute Spring Speaker Series to dialogue with visiting artists, activist, and scholars/thought leaders.
Today we pause from our routines to think with the ideas and words of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Across campus and the world, people are reflecting on King’s wisdom, listening to him in his own words, and considering how to apply what he sought to expose and teach as we develop thoughtful action to apply to current Civil Rights issues. As we are exploring the theme Learning to Action: Movement Toward Just Communities over the next two weeks, how might we follow MLK’s lead and that of others who joined in the Civil Rights movement to realize economic, legal, political, and social justice?
On February 5, Griot Spring Series Speaker, Stephanie Jones, the first of seven, will be on campus to delve into conversations about Decolonial Education and Liberatory Learning. Civil Rights era struggles have not been resolved. People still experience differential treatment based on race in many critical aspects of life from housing to health care. How might a decolonial framing move us beyond the kinds of persistent oppression and inequalities we continue to witness? Spring Series Speakers will share their visions and discuss with us our ideas for Decolonial Education and Liberatory Learning. We will end the Spring Series and the semester with a conference with keynote speakers and panels. Please visit our conference website, consider submitting a presentation for the conference or simply join us at the conference to engage in conversations and begin building new opportunities.
Looking forward to seeing each of you at one of our events in person or virtually. Your engagement and continued interest each year are deeply appreciated.
Be Well and Stay Warm,
Cymone Fourshey
Professor of History and International Relations
Director of The Griot Institute for the Study of Black Lives and Cultures
The Griot Intern Blog
For insights, reactions and detailed information on past Griot Institute events, please read our intern-authored blogs throughout the academic year. The blogs also include many updates and reports on what is happening around campus in connection to Black lives and cultures.
2024-25 Griot intern contributors: Jeremiah Charles ’27, Athaliah Elvis ’26, Mercy Ifiegbu ’26, Holiness Kerandi ’26, Jesse Leon ’28, Ryleigh Roberts ’25 (graduate student and editor), Da’Mirah Vinson ’26 and Barbara Wankollie ’25.
Upcoming Events
Bucknell University MLK Week 2025 events are from January 20 – 31!
Dr. King consistently referred to the three interconnected evils of the world: racism, poverty and militarism. This year’s MLK theme, Learning to Action: Movement Toward Just Communities, is a call to the community to actively engage in listening, (self) reflection, learning and action toward social justice. In a time of unrest and conflict, how can our local community of Bucknellians and our neighbors take up King’s call to better understand our words and practices as the work of transformation toward beloved community and justice? In an effort to learn how to take action that brings greater social justice, our keynote speaker will be Judy Richardson, formerly a student leader at Swarthmore who was an original participant in Freedom Summer (1963) and a member of SNCC, and currently a filmmaker and social justice educator/activist. Please join us for the keynote event (January 27), as well as the other wonderful events planned for the next two weeks.
In His Own Words: Noted Speeches by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
Monday, January 20 at 3:00 pm
Gallery Theatre, Elaine Langone Center (3rd Floor)
Have you ever listened carefully to any of Martin Luther King Jr.’s speeches in their entirety? Quotes from MLK are often cited, but taken out-of-context, overused, misused for commodities and marketing, and have become ubiquitous in discussions of peace and race relations. This MLK Day (January 20, 2025) we will gather to listen and reflect on Dr. King’s ideas, heard in his own voice and words. Two MLK speeches will be shown, “Nobel Peace Prize Acceptance Speech” (December 1964) and “Drum Major Instinct” (February 1968). Viewing and conversation will take place in the Gallery Theatre of the ELC from 3 – 5 pm, followed by an open invitation for refreshments and discussion in Arches Lounge. No RSVP necessary.
Artists’ Books for Equity: Artists and Authors Advocating for Just Communities
Tuesday, January 21 through April 1; Accessible during Bertrand Library Hours
Bertrand Library – Main Floor & Special Collections Exhibit Area, Lower Level 1
Historically, the printed word has served as a vehicle for shaping social change. Through artists’ books–works of art that take the form of a book–the artists and authors behind these works have used the creative freedom of the medium to call attention to issues of social justice. Tackling racism, immigration, gender, climate change, and more, the selection of artists’ books on exhibit from SCUA’s collection illustrates the power of art and print to advocate for more just communities.
MLK Week MakerSpace Activity
Tuesday, January 21 at 6:00 – 8:00 pm
7th St. Studio/MakerSpace
Bucknell students, faculty and staff are invited to stop by 7th Street Studio & MakerSpace to vinyl press your own crewneck sweatshirt inspired by MLK (available while supplies last)! Guidance provided. No reservation necessary.
James Baldwin Readout
Thursday, January 23 at 12:00 – 1:00 pm
Bertrand Library, 213 – Traditional Reading Room
The Literary Studies Program presents a public reading of excerpts from the work of James Baldwin, one of Dr. King’s great antiracist interlocutors. Both King and Baldwin were devoted to the project of American equity, and spent much of their lives theorizing, writing, and acting towards that goal; reading Baldwin in the context of King’s legacy brings out the deeper textures of the American Civil Rights movement. Join us for a collaborative “Read-out” of Baldwin’s The Fire Next Time, followed by a lunch and talkback with various members of the English department who are teaching Baldwin’s work this semester.
In His Own Words: MLK and Student Voices
Friday, January 24 at 12:00 – 1:00 pm
Elaine Langone Center, 045 – Diversity & Inclusion Multipurpose Room
Have you ever listened carefully to any of Martin Luther King Jr.’s speeches in their entirety? Quotes from MLK are often cited, but taken out-of-context, overused, misused for commodities and marketing, and have become ubiquitous in discussions of peace and race relations. This MLK Week we will gather to listen and reflect on Dr. King’s ideas, heard in his own voice and words. For this lunch, join student leaders from Bucknell Student Government to listen to and discuss “Nobel Peace Prize Acceptance Speech” (December 1964). Lunch Provided. Sponsored by the Bucknell Student Government’s MLK and Diversity Committees. No RSVP necessary.
If you would like to view the speech in advance or independently, please use the link below.
MLK’s Nobel Peace Prize Acceptance Speech – https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/peace/1964/ki…
Singing and Social Justice: A Community Sing with Rev. Angela Jones and Dr. Alisha Lola Jones, University of Cambridge
Saturday, January 25 at 3:00 – 5:00 pm
Rooke Chapel
The Rooke Chapel Gospel Music Fellow leads a Saturday afternoon workshop on the role of communal singing and music during the civil rights movement. Part interactive workshop, part rehearsal, featuring Dr. Alisha Lola Jones of Cambridge University (bio here). The music will lead into Sunday’s Multi-Faith Commemoration of the Life and Legacy of Dr. King.
Co-Sponsored by the Bucknell University Choir, Beyond Unison, Two Past Midnight, the Voice Lab, the Rooke Chapel Congregation, and the Office of Religious & Spiritual Life.
Multifaith Commemoration of the Life and Legacy of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
Sunday, January 26 at 11:00 am – 12:00 pm
Rooke Chapel
Building on Saturday’s Singing & Social justice community sing, Sunday’s Multi-Faith Commemoration of the Life and Legacy of Dr. King will feature a Dr. King’s Drum Major Instinct, read in short sections by members of the Bucknell Community, as well as congregational hymns and choir anthems from the movement. Our speaker will be Dr. Alisha Lola Jones, and our music leader will be Rev. Angela Jones. Co-Sponsored by the Bucknell University Choir, Beyond Unison, Two Past Midnight, the Voice Lab, the Rooke Chapel Congregation, and the Office of Religious & Spiritual Life.
MLK Week 2025 Keynote Speaker, Judy Richardson
Monday, January 27 at 7:00 – 8:30 pm
Vaughan Literature Building, 100 – Leanne Freas Trout Auditorium
Keynote Speaker, Judy Richardson – Civil Rights Activist, SNCC Organizer, Filmmaker
Talk: We Who Believe in Freedom Cannot Rest
In these difficult times, it’s important to remember those whose commitment and courage energize us as we work to strengthen and expand our democracy. I will talk about the people I met personally as a 19-year-old, while working as an organizer with the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) in the 1960’s Southern Civil Rights Movement. These include both my young fellow staffers and the older leaders, like Ms. Ella Baker, who guided and nurtured us. I’ll also focus on those whom I’ve met through my work as a documentary filmmaker: from the women who helped organize the Montgomery Bus Boycott – and others interviewed for our Academy-Award nominated, 14-hour PBS series Eyes on the Prize – to those covered in our recently-completed film on Frederick Douglass for the National Park Service. Their stories and their tireless resistance have the power to strengthen us for the work ahead. Please see Judy Richardson’s bio and additional links here.
The Bucknell Forum and MLK Week Present Actor George Takei
Tuesday, January 28 at 7:30 pm
Weis Center for the Performing Arts
The Bucknell Forum speaker series presents, in partnership with the University’s MLK Week, pioneering actor and social justice activist George Takei on Tuesday, Jan. 28 at 7:30 p.m. in the Weis Center for the Performing Arts, where he will discuss the theme “World in Transition.” All Bucknell Forum events are free and open to the public, although tickets are required (see details here).
Globally renowned for his role as Hikaru Sulu in the original Star Trek series, Takei boasts an acting career spanning six decades with appearances in more than 40 feature films and numerous television shows. Beyond his iconic role on Star Trek, Takei’s life is marked by his advocacy for social justice, LGBTQ+ rights and marriage equality. As a child, Takei and his family were wrongfully imprisoned in Japanese-American internment camps during World War II, a personal history that has fueled his passion for activism and that he recounted in the New York Times-bestselling graphic memoir They Called Us Enemy, which was the first-year Common Reading for Bucknell’s Class of 2026. Takei’s extensive voiceover work includes appearances on The Simpsons, Futurama and Avatar: The Last Airbender. He also provided narration for the PBS series The National Parks: America’s Best Idea and the Peabody Award-winning radio documentary Crossing East. He earned a Grammy nomination in the Best Spoken Word or Non-musical Recording category for the film Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home. In addition to his screen work, Takei made his Broadway debut in 2015 with the musical Allegiance, inspired by his wartime experiences. Takei’s contributions to U.S.-Japanese relations earned him Japan’s Order of the Rising Sun, Gold Rays with Rosette. He continues to inspire through his YouTube series, Takei’s Take, his social media presence and ongoing advocacy.
Exploring the Intersection of Conflict and Culture presented by Dr. Jen Fry
Thursday, January 30 at 7:00 – 8:00 pm
Elaine Langone Center, 256 – Center Room
Dr. Jen Fry will help us reflect how our past experiences influence our current actions and behaviors in general but also as it relates to the power of collective action and unification around a common goal, one of MLK’s legacies. Dr. Fry brings an anti-racist lens to her work, understanding the importance of recognizing both the lasting impact of racism in America and how it continues today. MLK was dedicated to bringing the roots of racism to light, often highlighting the history of segregation in his speeches and encouraging folks to acknowledge the harm of racism while striving to work together. Dr. Fry will provide strategies and tools for participants to engage in uncomfortable, challenging conversations that may include both inner and outer conflict, underscoring the importance of engaging in discourse across differences.
Community Lunch — Learning to Action: Through King’s Words in Classroom Spaces and Beyond
Friday, January 31 at 12:00 – 1:00 pm
Elaine Langone Center, 276 – Terrace Room
In this community lunch, we will begin a conversation to reflect on MLK’s “Nobel Peace Prize Acceptance Speech” (December 1964). We will discuss how his words can inspire one to develop personal goals and shape institutional values through sustained and dynamic actions. Bucknell faculty, staff, students and the Lewisburg community are invited to attend. Lunch provided.
RSVP required: https://forms.gle/EQzBxQ2UUXw7eXJB6
If you would like to view the speech in advance or independently, please use the link below.
MLK’s Nobel Peace Prize Acceptance Speech – https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/peace/1964/ki…
The 2025 Griot Institute Spring Series events begin on February 5 with Dr. Stephanie Jones!
Dr. Stephanie Jones, Associate Professor of Education at Grinnell College
Wednesday, February 5 at 4:30 – 6:00 pm
Hildreth-Mirza Great Room
Talk Title: Ending Curriculum Violence and Racial Trauma in the Classroom
Lunch Chat with Dr. Stephanie Jones, Associate Professor of Education at Grinnell College
Wednesday, February 5 at 12:00 – 1:00 pm
Hildreth-Mirza Great Room
oin the Griot Institute for an informal lunch chat with Dr. Stephanie Jones. Jones is a professor of Education at Grinnell College and will be giving a talk, Ending Curriculum Violence and Racial Trauma in the Classroom, at 4:30 on February 5. RSVP by January 31: https://forms.gle/NsdyPkYyGBqRUSn69
West African Drumming Lessons
Mondays, 4:30 – 5:30
Hildreth-Mirza Great Room
West African drumming lessons will continue in Spring 2025, beginning on February 3! This opportunity is free of charge and is open to the Bucknell community, as well as the public! No experience is necessary and instruments are provided. Because we have a limited number of instruments, please register by emailing griot@bucknell.edu.
About the instructor: Urie Kline is a versatile percussionist active across Central Pennsylvania. He first began studying West African drumming — specifically the Jembe and Dunan tradition of the Mande — in 2015. His educational experiences include masterclasses under both Dr. Djo Bi (Ivory Coast) and M’bemba Bangoura (Guinea). He has taught Mande drumming during his World Drumming course at Lycoming College since 2018 and started instructing at The Griot Institute in 2022.
Cosponsored/ Campus & Community Events
Film Screening: Rising Hope – FILMMAKER IN PERSON!
Tuesday, January 21 at 7:00 pm
The Campus Theatre
Director Theo Avgerinos (Fifty Pills, Americons), a Bucknell alumnus who graduated in 2000, is premiering his new film at The Campus Theatre. Rising Hope is a personal project for Theo. Its story of community. Aligned with Bucknell’s Martin Luther King Jr. Week, which this year focuses on “Learning to Action: Movements Toward Just Communities,” Film/Media Studies at Bucknell is showing this film Tuesday January 21 at 7pm at The Campus Theatre. Join them for the film and post-film discussion, when the film’s director, cinematographer, and three participants will be present for a reflection on their Mississippi community’s actions toward social justice.
Directed by Theo Avgerinos (U.S. 2024) 104 min. DCP.
Additional Notes from The Griot
As we enter a new year, we are trying out a new format for The Griot newsletters! We now have all of our information (intern blog posts, Griot newsletters, and a link to the official Griot webpage) at one spot! In time, we hope to make past newsletters available here as well. As always, we would appreciate your feedback. If you like the new format, please let us know! If you have suggestions for the new format, please let us know! We hope to hear from you!
About the Griot
To check event dates, subscribe to the Griot Institute Public Event Calendar
Email: griot@bucknell.edu
Phone: 570-577-2123
Location: Hildreth-Mirza, 2nd Floor
Hours: Monday – Friday, 8:00am – 3:00pm or by appointment
Director: C. Cymone Fourshey | Program Manager: Michelle Lauver
