The Martin Luther King assembly Jan. 13 will feature guest presenter Kwame Jeffries with themes of reclaiming the Black Lives Matter hashtag and performative activism.

Dr. Jeffries is a history professor at The Ohio State University who teaches about the Civil Rights and Black Power Movement. He was selected because both he and the Black Students’ Association believe individuals should keep their minds open to further understand history relating to the present.

Organized by the BSA, the assembly will help students learn ways to demonstrate sincere support when participating in the Black Lives Matter movement.

Senior Mikaela Ewing, BSA president, said, “The assembly will discuss why it is important to understand that if you are going to be a part of the movement you actually follow through and try to enact actual change.”

According to Mikaela, the first step of the BSA’s planning process was deciding the focus of the assembly.

“We determined the theme as reclaiming the hashtag,” she said. “We figured out what specifically we wanted to focus on, and eventually decided on globalized social media movements.” 

The BSA also wants to include certain aspects of past MLK assemblies into the approaching one, while still acknowledging the difficulties of the virtual setting, Mikaela explained.

Mikaela said, “I hope that people will gain perspective and understanding, in that if you say you support something, how will you follow through with your support.”