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MLK 2025

This year's theme: Bending Toward Justice: Peace and Nonviolence

By Bates College

January 24^th, 2025

Bates College’s annual Martin Luther King Jr. Day observance embraced reflection, learning, and action. Through films, workshops, performances, and keynote addresses, the community explored King’s enduring legacy and the year’s theme: Bending Toward Justice: Peace and Nonviolence.

From discussions on restorative justice to celebrations of Black culture and resilience, each event fostered dialogue and engagement. The day offered opportunities for connection, inspiration, and a renewed commitment to justice. These moments, captured through powerful photographs and shared stories, illustrate how Bates honors King’s vision by turning reflection into meaningful action.

Explore highlights from this two-day commemoration below.

USING CINEMA AS A TOOL TO INVESTIGATE

The screening of Children of Peace, a documentary film by Mayaan Schwartz, set the tone for MLK Day, sparking discussions about resilience and reconciliation. The film focuses on a group of adults who as children in the 1970s grew up in a village, Neve Shalom/Wahat al Salam, conceived of as a model of harmonious co-existence between Arabs and Jews — the only village in Israel where Arabs and Jews choose to live together. Was it a genuine opportunity or nothing more than a social experiment?

GATHERING WITH PRESIDENT JENKINS

President Garry W. Jenkins hosted a gathering of students, faculty, and staff for an evening of reflection and community-building.

Guests included keynote speaker Erica Chenoweth, members of the Martin Luther King Jr. Day Planning Committee, and student debaters from Morehouse College who traveled to Bates for the annual Benjamin Elijah Mays Debate with debaters from Bates.

SPOKEN WORD FESTIVAL

Words came alive at the MLK Day Spoken Word Festival, where poets and artists honored King’s legacy through powerful performances.

ERICA CHENOWETH DELIVERS KEYNOTE

DREAM BIG WITH THE BOBCATS

Bates student-athletes inspired local children with games, crafts, and mentorship, embodying the spirit of community and service central to MLK Day.

WORKSHOPS, WORKSHOPS, WORKSHOPS

Workshops and creative events on MLK Day at Bates College invited deep reflection and hands-on engagement.

Passamaquoddy presenters highlighted truth-telling as a path to healing, while documentary film director Ilana Trachtman spurred discussion on justice through the film Ain't No Back To a Merry-Go-Round.

Students celebrated Black identity in workshops on dandyism and the resilience of Black Wall Street of the early 1900s in Tulsa, Okla. Charles Nero explored Bayard Rustin’s role as a courageous, queer civil rights pioneer.

Restorative justice exercises fostered connection, and participants screen printed designs inspired by the day’s theme, Bending Toward Justice.

Each session provided space to honor King’s legacy and inspired action through creativity, dialogue, and reflection.

BLACK RESISTANCE THROUGH WEALTH, 'AIN'T NO BACK TO A MERRY-G0-ROUND,' AND 'RUSTIN'

HONORING WATER, LAND, AND PEOPLE

RECLAIMING PUBLIC MEMORY, WORKING CLASS DISCONTENT, AND WRITING THROUGH GRIEF

SCREEN PRINTING DROP-IN AND RESTORATIVE PRACTICES

THE REV. DR. BENJAMIN ELIJAH MAYS DEBATE

THE EVENING PERFORMANCE

Footnotes

Produced by Bates Communications and Marketing, with images by Phyllis Graber Jensen, Theophil Syslo, Avery Lehman ‘27, Carly Philpott ‘27, and Sammy Weidenthal ‘27, and text and editing by Jay Burns.