Photos: MLK Commemoration Week begins

Events for Martin Luther King Jr. Commemoration Week at Grand Valley started Monday and continue through the rest of the week.

Bakari Kitwana kicked off the week's events with a speech Monday that drew connections between activists from the civil rights era and activists from the hip-hop era.

MLK Commemoration Week   events continue through Saturday; see details below.

• Tuesday, January 17: 
1 p.m.: Melanie Shell-Weiss, assistant professor of liberal studies, will discuss “Race, Migration and Social Justice: What Would MLK Say Today?” in the Kirkhof Center, Pere Marquette Room.

• Wednesday, January 18: 
5 p.m.: Michelle Alexander, civil rights advocate and author of The New Jim Crow, presentation in Kirkhof Center, Grand River Room. This program will be simulcast to the DeVos Center for an audience in Loosemore Auditorium.

• Thursday, January 19:
10 a.m.: Michelle Alexander will discuss her book in the Cook-DeWitt Center.

• Saturday, January 21: 
9 a.m.: “Day of Service” when students, faculty and staff members will volunteer within the community in honor of King and civil rights activist Gloria Richardson. About 100 people will gather in the Kirkhof Center before heading to the Feeding America West Michigan Food Bank and other locations.

For more information about King events, visit www.gvsu.edu/mlk.