By Runa Lemminn

Features Editor

 In honor of the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Wed. April 4 will be filled with civil rights movement events at CSU Bakersfield.

 April 4 has a special significance, as it is the day Dr. King was assassinated in 1968.

 Sociology professor Dr. Alem Kebede teaches civil rights at CSUB and is organizing the event.

    “This year is also the 200th birthday of the year Frederick Douglass was born,” said Kebede.

 While Dr. King will be highlighted, many aspects and important people of the civil rights movement will be featured throughout the day.

 “Martin Luther King was a charismatic figure, however there were also other people who played a very significant role,” Kebede said. “Coretta Scott King was an activist before MLK was an activist, people may not know that.”

 A panel in the Dezember Reading Room at 9 a.m. will kick off the day’s events.

 The panelists are Dr. Rhonda Dugan, Dr. Patricia Henry, Dr. Marie Stango, and Dr. Tim Vivian, and each will give a short presentation.

 Dugan will speak about Dr. King’s message in contemporary culture. Henry will speak about Brown vs. Topeka, and how she lived it. Vivian will give a speech on Dr. King’s position on the Vietnam War. Stango will speak about women, gender, and the long civil rights movement.

 A screening of “Citizen King” will follow from 2-4 p.m., in the Dezember Reading Room, and will be done “student style,” according to Kebede.

 Students will watch short clips and discuss the clips in groups.

 Next, a public reading of Dr. King’s “Letter from Birmingham Jail,” with opening comments from Dr. Jacquelyn Kegley, will take place from 4:30-5:45 p.m. at the Dr. Martin Luther King sculpture on the west side of Walter Stiern Library.

 Kabede will give a brief 10 minute speech titled: “The Long Struggle for Recognition,” before introducing the other speakers for the evening who are Vice President of Student Affairs Thomas Wallace and President Horace Mitchell.

 “They will speak of their experiences,” said Kabede.

The day’s events will end with a candlelight vigil.