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ONEONTA, N.Y. -- Two events at the SUNY College at Oneonta next week
will commemorate the life of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. "Empowerment:
Realizing a Martin Luther King Dream," an event co-sponsored by the City of
Oneonta, SUNY Oneonta, and Hartwick College, will take place from 2 p.m. to
3:30 p.m. on Saturday, January 24, in the ballroom of the Hunt College
Union. On Tuesday, January 20, the SUNY Oneonta Center for Multicultural
Experiences will host a poetry slam in celebration of the life and works of
Dr. King at 7 p.m. at the center in Lee Hall. Admission to both events is
complimentary, and members of the community are invited to participate.
Saturday's "Empowerment" commemoration will feature music, dance,
readings, and presentations in honor of Dr. King. Oneonta Mayor John Nader
will present a proclamation. SUNY Oneonta President Nancy Kleniewski will
offer a presentation entitled "Empowerment: Realizing the Dream of Martin
Luther King, Jr."
Musical selections in the program will be performed by Yolanda Sharpe of
the SUNY Oneonta Art Department, the Oneonta Middle School Drama Club, and
the local youth chorus That's The Way The Cookie Crumbles. The drama club
will also offer a presentation entitled "Something Else: Our Voices, Our
Stories, Ourselves!" Thelma Apicella of the SUNY Oneonta College Assistance
Migrant Program will present a reading.
The welcome and closing of the event will be presented by Sita Fey of the
Oneonta Commission on Community Relations and Human Rights. The invocation
will be offered by
Pastor Teressa Sivers of the United Methodist Church and Lee Fisher of the
Oneonta Community Awareness Task Force. The benediction will be offered by
Lukman Hoja, a representative of the Muslim community.
The planning committee for the "Empowerment" commemoration consists of
Sita Fey, Joyce Miller, and Martha Robinson of Oneonta's Commission on
Community Relations and Human Rights and Thelma Apicella and Cecilia Zapata
of SUNY Oneonta. More information about the event is available from Dr.
Zapata at (607) 436-2830.
Tuesday's poetry slam in celebration of the life and works of Dr. Martin
Luther King, Jr., is sponsored by the College's
Center for Multicultural
Experiences and the Students of Color Coalition. The event will take
place at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, January 20, which is also the inauguration day
for President-elect Obama.
At the poetry slam, entitled "Xpress Yourself," the featured poet will be
Dana Gilmore of HBO's "Def Poetry Jam." Participants are invited to bring
poems to share to honor Dr. King. Poems can reflect on times from the days
of Dr. King to the election of President Obama. As part of the event, the
presidential inauguration will be televised in the Center for Multicultural
Experiences. Refreshments will be provided.
More information about the poetry slam is available from the Center for
Multicultural Experiences at (607) 436-2663.
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