Like Her Father Before Her

Berni C e k ing 90 t 90L TAKES HELM OF S OUTHERN C HRISTIAN L EADERSHIP C ONFERENCE

The Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) in October named Bernice King 90C 90L, minister at New Birth Missionary Church in Lithonia and the daughter of cofounder Martin Luther King Jr., as its next president.

King, SCLC’s first female leader, says she will use her family legacy to energize a new generation’s nonviolent battle for social justice and to increase the involvement of women. “I stand before you as a daughter of the civil rights movement calling forth the daughters and sons of the next generation of social change,” King said in her acceptance speech. She pledged to build a bridge between veteran black activists of the 1960s and the hip-hop generation of the present day, reenergizing the youthful energy of the SCLC.

King will be the seventh permanent leader in the organization’s history. Now based in Atlanta, the SCLC was founded in New Orleans in 1957 by Martin Luther King Jr., Ralph David Abernathy, Joseph Lowery, and other African American leaders from across the South to advance the cause of racial equality. The SCLC helped to pass both the Voting Rights Act and the Civil Rights Act.

L eg AC y: Bernice king hopes to make the sCLC, which her father cofounded, relevant for today’s black youth.

In 2008, Emory’s Manuscript, Archives, and Rare Book Library (MARBL) received 1,100 boxes containing many of SCLC’s historical records, including photographs documenting events such as voter registration workshops during the civil rights movement, drafts of speeches by Ralph Abernathy, thousands of sympathy cards and letters expressing grief and outrage at the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr., and letters from people across the country seeking assistance in local political organizing or dealing with violations of civil rights.—M.J.L.

P erfe C t P it C h EMOR y IN THE NEWS

spotlight or stereotype? The film Precious shone a needed spotlight on the underclass, faculty member nathan mcCall told the New York Times in November. But, said McCall, who teaches a course on the history of African American images, the film could have avoided some stereotypes.

“A white artist can make a film about a family of ten drug addicts, and the public sees it as a film about a family of ten drug addicts, not ten white drug addicts,” McCall said. “A black artist can make that film, too, but you have to be aware of the history.”

Admission season: The New york Times’s “The Choice Blog” turned to Dean of Admission

Jean Jordan to answer a reader’s question about transferring from one college to another. Jordan also was quoted in the London Times Higher Education supplement on wait list activity, and interviewed by CNN International on Chinese students’ interest in pursuing an American education. world Views: Cnn international conducted live interviews with Muslim law expert Abdullahi An-na’im of the School of Law on the trial of a Sudanese Muslim journalist accused of violating Islamic law. Emory law professor more mental health: In an article examining an increased need for college counseling services, the Philadelphia Inquirer interviewed mark mcLeod, director of student counseling, about Emory’s proactive efforts to improve and increase access to mental health services for students, including a routine mental health fee each semester. The reason is to bring in more funds for counseling; the University also seeks to reduce the stigma of seeking help, McLeod said.

A necessary Conversation:“In America now, we are constantly having this debate over race. It is a conversation that needs to continue,” said Joseph Crespino, associate professor of history, in the British newspaper the Guardian in an article about President Obama.

Dorothy Brown also was interviewed by CNN International on health care reform.

Boom Days Ahead: Will today’s baby boom counteract the economic bust? Goizueta Professor Jeff rosensweig told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution’s Cynthia Tucker: “We’ve had more babies born in the U.S. in the past two years than at any point in history, including the peak of the baby boom, 1957. Think of the demand that’s going to be created for teachers, for highquality day care.”

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