History teaches us that major shifts in consciousness and action often begin with people coming to the table and, with purposeful intention, wrestling with difficult issues. On this 18th annual Duke University Martin Luther King, Jr. Commemoration – with dissension still present in the world, in Durham and on campus – we invite the community to come to the table and risk reaching across to others.

History teaches us that major shifts in consciousness and action often begin with people coming to the table and, with purposeful intention, wrestling with difficult issues. On this 18th annual Duke University Martin Luther King, Jr. Commemoration – with dissension still present in the world, in Durham and on campus – we invite the community to come to the table and risk reaching across to others.
We take our lead from Dr. King’s sermon at Ebenezer Baptist Church when he proclaimed that a year acceptable to God would be "that year when all of the leaders of the world will sit down at the conference table and realize that unless mankind puts an end to war, war will put an end to mankind."

On the 50th anniversary of Dr. King’s first visit to Durham (October 15, 1956), as a young, peaceful agent for change, we are reminded of his ties to our community. Returning four times to bring people to the table of justice, his most poignant visit was on February 16, 1960, in support of those who risked their freedom to sit at Woolworth’s lunch counter in downtown Durham. This transformational act is part of our community history, and a hallmark of Dr. King’s legacy as a tireless champion of equal access to education and healthcare, and to economic and social justice. 

We invoke the spirit of the words he spoke in Durham fifty years ago: "Doors will be open to you now that were never open in the past. … Be ready for opportunities." We welcome the opportunity to come to our community table, with the hope that we can find common ground with others whose experiences may be different than ours, but who share a desire to create a peaceful, inclusive, productive society.

The Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. spoke at Duke in Page Auditorium Nov. 13, 1964.
Listen to clips from his speech