PROVIDENCE, R.I. [Brown University] — The Rev. Bernice King, CEO of the Martin Luther King Jr. Center for Nonviolent Social Change and daughter of the iconic activist, will deliver the 2013 Martin Luther King Jr. Lecture at Brown University on Wednesday, Jan. 30, 2013. Her talk begins at 4 p.m. in the Salomon Center for Teaching, De Ciccio Family Auditorium. It is free and open to the public.

King's talk, will examine “Advancing the ‘Dream’: Addressing Social Equity Issues to Eliminate Health Disparities in the 21st Century,” touching on health disparities and issues of social inequality that exist in the United States and will address her father’s ongoing legacy of social justice and equity. This year marks the 50th anniversary of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s August 28, 1963, “I Have a Dream” speech during the March on Washington.

King is a nationally and internationally recognized speaker, a role she first undertook when she spoke in her mother’s stead at the United Nations at age 17. Over the years, she has spoken at The White House, DuPont Corp., AT&T, NIKE, University of Toledo, Xavier University, University of North Carolina, Duke University, Pepperdine University, Department of Defense, and held international engagements in Australia, Germany, New Zealand, and South Africa.

King was educated at Spelman College and Emory University, where she received both a master’s degree in divinity and a doctorate in law. She was awarded an honorary doctorate in divinity from Wesley College. She is currently a member of the State Bar of Georgia.

King is the author of Hard Questions, Heart Answers, published in 1996.

The Martin Luther King Jr. Lecture

The Martin Luther King Jr. Lecture was established at Brown University in 1996, with former New York Mayor David Dinkins as the inaugural speaker. Past lecturers have included Hugh B. Price, president and CEO of the National Urban League; Lee Mun Wah, community therapist, poet and the maker of the film The Color of Fear; Elizabeth Martinez, Chicana activist and author of Des Colores Means All of Us: Latina Views for a Multi-Colored Century; William Julias Wilson, sociologist and author of The Bridge over the Racial Divide: Rising Inequality and Coalition Politics; Jane E. Smith, president and CEO of the National Council of Negro Women Inc.; Johnnetta B. Cole, professor emerita of Emory University and president emerita of Spelman College; Randall Kennedy, professor of law at Harvard Law School; Michael Lomax, president and CEO of the United Negro College Fund; social activist and educator Angela Davis; noted PBS host and author Tavis Smiley; Ronald Ferguson, Harvard lecturer and scholar; and Claude Steele, noted author and Stanford scholar.