> Home > University Advancement > Media Relations > Newsroom - 2005 Press Releases

Newsroom Archive | Media Experts Online

Jan. 31, 2005
DH-05 PH 072
Contact: Pamela Hammond
(310) 243-2001
phammond@csudh.edu

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Cal State Dominguez Hills and the City of Carson
Salute the Niagara Movement
at the Martin Luther King, Jr. Unity Breakfast

The annual event honors the historical roots of civil rights activism

Carson, Calif. – California State University, Dominguez Hills (CSUDH) will be joining the City of Carson for the 11th annual Martin Luther King, Jr. Unity Breakfast to be held at the Carson Community Center, 801 East Carson Street in the city of Carson, 7:30 to 10 a.m. on Wednesday, Feb. 16. Along with honoring the life of Dr. King, the breakfast event will observe the 2005 theme of February’s nationwide Black History Month, The Niagara Movement.

In 1905, W.E.B. DeBois and William Monroe Trotter secretly gathered together a group of militant black intellectuals and professionals at Niagara Falls to renounce Booker T. Washington’s accommodation to the white power structure. Washington had professed blacks should acquiesce from their struggle for political power and integration and instead focus on economic self-sufficiency. Taking a far more militant stance, the Niagara participants formed a short-lived movement but one that set the agenda for black protest throughout the 20th Century. Their manifesto became, in the words of DuBois: "We want full manhood suffrage and we want it now.... We are men! We want to be treated as men. And we shall win." The movement led to the formation of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP).

CSUDH Dean of the College of Liberal Arts Selase Williams will serve as the morning’s master of ceremonies. A dignitary from the city of Carson will offer his/her greetings to the audience. CSUDH President James E. Lyons, Sr. will introduce the guest speaker for the occasion, Dr. Kenneth Waters, associate professor from the Huggard School of Theology at Asuza Pacific University. His keynote is titled, "The Legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr."

Students, local community groups and private citizens who exemplify the ongoing legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. through their efforts to improve society will be honored during the awards breakfast. Chair of the MLK Awards Selection Committee and CSUDH Coordinator of the Multicultural Center Luisito Amador will present the awards.

Music will be provided by the Jordan International Choir of Long Beach and singer Donald Taylor, administrative support assistant with CSUDH Student Health and Psychological Services.

For ticket information ($15 per person) and other information, please contact the CSUDH Office of Ceremonies & Events by phone (310) 243-2666 or e-mail csudhevents@csudh.edu. Tickets can be purchased until Feb. 14 or until seating has reached capacity, and they will not be sold at the door. Citizens from throughout Carson and the greater South Bay area are expected to attend the ceremony.

# # #