Veteran political strategist and commentator Donna Brazile will give the keynote address for Duke University's Martin Luther King Jr. commemoration on Sunday, Jan. 15, in Duke Chapel.
The 3 p.m. speech is part of a program that includes music and dancing in the chapel celebrating King's life. It is free and open to the public. Parking is available in the Bryan Center Parking Garage.
Brazile is the vice chair of voter registration and participation for the Democratic National Committee. She is also an adjunct professor at Georgetown University, a columnist for United Media, Ms. Magazine and O Magazine, and an on-air contributor to CNN, NPR and ABC, where she regularly appears on "This Week." She is also author of the best-selling memoir, "Cooking with Grease: Stirring the Pots in American Politics."
Brazile has worked on every presidential campaign from 1976 to 2000, when she served as campaign manager for former U.S. Vice President Al Gore. She is the first African-American woman to manage a presidential campaign.
A native of New Orleans, she has served on the board of the Louisiana Recovery Authority, working for a full post-Katrina recovery for the city. Her other passion involves voting rights and encouraging young people to vote and run for public office. She is the founder and managing director of Brazile & Associates, a consulting, grassroots advocacy and training firm based in Washington, D.C.
Brazile has been named to numerous top lists, including the Washingtonian Magazine's 100 most powerful women, O Magazine's top 20 remarkable visionaries and Essence Magazine's top 50 women in America. The Congressional Black Caucus bestowed her with its highest award for political achievement.
The theme for this year's MLK commemoration is "Act to Honor."
Learn more about this year's commemoration, including an updated listing of events, at mlk.duke.edu.