Cambridge Public Library to Welcome Professor Randall Kennedy for 49th Annual Martin Luther King Jr. Day Lecture Tuesday, January 16

The Cambridge Public Library will welcome Professor Randall Kennedy, the Michael R. Klein Professor at Harvard Law School, for the 49th Annual Martin Luther King Jr. Day keynote speech. The event will take place on Tuesday, January 16, at 6 p.m. in the Lecture Hall of the Main Library. This event is hybrid, and registration is required. This event is cosponsored by the Cambridge Public Library Foundation, the City Manager’s Office, and Mayor Denise Simmons. 

Every January, the Library welcomes a thought leader to deliver a lecture to honor Martin Luther King Jr.’s legacy and impart the importance of continuing his work. Martin Luther King Jr.’s belief in community service and equity for all aligns with the Library’s vision to create a Cambridge where everyone has equitable opportunities to learn, people live their best lives, and democracy thrives.

At Harvard Law School, Professor Kennedy teaches courses on contracts, criminal law, and the regulation of race relations. He was born in Columbia, South Carolina. He attended St. Albans School, Princeton University, Oxford University, and Yale Law School. He served as a law clerk for Judge J. Skelly Wright of the United States Court of Appeals and for Justice Thurgood Marshall of the United States Supreme Court. He is a member of the bar of the District of Columbia and the Supreme Court of the United States. Awarded the 1998 Robert F. Kennedy Book Award for Race, Crime, and the Law, Mr. Kennedy writes for a wide range of scholarly and general interest publications.

“We are honored to host Professor Kennedy for our 49th Annual Martin Luther King Jr. Day Celebration,” says Maria McCauley, Director of Cambridge Public Libraries. “The Library’s annual Martin Luther King Jr. celebration is an important longstanding tradition that encourages us to build on Dr. King’s commitments to community service and equity.”

###

About the Cambridge Public Library:
At the Cambridge Public Library, we welcome all, inspire minds, and empower community. We support a Cambridge where everyone has equitable opportunities to learn, people live their best lives and democracy thrives. The Library’s programming provides an opportunity for civic dialogue, conversation, and learning, which includes exploring a wide range of views. Visit our website to learn more. Subscribe to our email list to stay up to date on our events here.

The City of Cambridge does not discriminate, including on the basis of disability. We may provide auxiliary aids and services, written materials in alternative formats, and reasonable modifications in policies and procedures to people with disabilities. For more information, contact us at library@cambridgema.gov, 617-349-4032 (voice), or via relay at 711.