MLK Social Justice Week
For more than 50 years, Seattle Colleges has commemorated the life and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
Starting in 2023, we had a vision to see our community honor Dr. King's vision for racial and social justice by hosting Seattle Colleges MLK Jr. Social Justice Week—a week of learning, growing, and uplifting our unwavering commitment social justice within our Seattle Colleges community. Together as a community with everlasting optimism and an abundance of excitement for the even brighter days ahead, we cordially invite you to join our Social Justice Week events. Details are below. Events are open to all students, faculty, and staff at North, Central, South, and the district offices.
Faculty, please consider offering extra credit for student attendance. Our entire Equity, Diversity, Inclusion and Community team so greatly appreciates it.
Community Provided Questions for Speakers
We invite you to submit questions for any of our speakers before their event using the QR code at right/below, or complete this form.
Call for Workshop proposals!
We invite Seattle Colleges faculty and staff to submit proposals for workshops they wish to present to the community addressing Social Justice issues. To submit your proposal complete this form by December 16th. Thank you!
Seattle Colleges is committed to the concept and practice of equal opportunity and reasonable accommodation for all its students, employees, and applicants in education, employment, services, and contracts. For our full non-discrimination statement, visit www.seattlecolleges.edu/nds.
All Speakers will be captioned during the webinars.
North Seattle College Disability Services
- email: ds@seattlecolleges.edu
- website: northseattle.edu/disability-services
Seattle Central College Accessibility Resource Center
- email: ARC.Central@seattlecolleges.edu
- website: seattlecentral.edu/campus-life/student-support-and-services/disability-support
South Seattle College Access Services
- email: access.south@seattlecolleges.edu
- website: southseattle.edu/access-services
2025 Social Justice Week Events
Tuesday, January 21
Noon to 1:30 p.m. online via Zoom
Speaker: Denea Joseph
Denea (pronounced Denae) Joseph is an undocumented Black DACA recipient and national immigrant rights activist.
Under-Protected, Over-Policed: The Criminalization of Undocumented and Black Immigrants
The mainstream media often correlates Latinx identity to immigration. As a result, Black immigrants are often ignored in conversations surrounding the migrant caravan, mass raids, detention, and deportation. Under-protected, over-policed uncovers the sinister tactics used to disproportionately detain and deport undocumented and Black immigrants.
Wednesday, January 22
Noon to 1:30 p.m. online via Zoom
Speaker: Dolores Huerta
Dolores Huerta is a legendary labor leader, women's advocate and civil rights activist who co-founded the United Farm Workers (UFW).
Weaving Movements Together: Immigration, Environment, Labor, Women’s Rights and LGBT Equality
Wednesday, January 23
3:30 to 5 p.m. online via Zoom
Speaker: Patty Berne
Patty Berne is the co-founder, executive and artistic director of Sins Invalid, a disability justice-based performance project centralizing disabled artists of color and queer and gender non-conforming artists with disabilities.
Disability Justice: A New Vision for the Revolutionary Body
In this presentation, we analyze various ways of understanding the body, landing ultimately on the framework of Disability Justice (DJ). Participants will learn the difference between viewing people's bodies through a medical model, a social model, and a disability justice model; will understand the profoundly differing impacts of these differing views on disabled people; will be exposed to a new liberatory way of understanding our bodies.
DJ centers the experiences of disabled people of color and queer/nonbinary/ trans disabled folks, as we are multiply marginalized within the economy, broad social sectors, and social movements, even within the disability rights movement. We will review the importance of intersectionality in all justice based organizing to best achieve a unified call for liberation.
Resources provided by guest speakers
DACA and Black Americans: An Immigration Nightmare (Essence Magazine)
Meet Denea Joseph (PopSugar interview)
Changing the Narrative of Undocumented Immigrants
Dolores Huerta - Archives of Women's Political Communication
Access is for Everyone: Interview with Patty Berne, Co-Founder and Director of Sins Invalid
A Disability Justice Primer - Skin, Tooth, and Bone
Enacting Nonviolent Social Change
The King Center offers a number of educational resources on enacting nonviolent social change and educating all on the tenets of civic discourse and civil disobedience.
Highlighting surprising facts about King’s life is now available at nmaahc.si.edu/5thingsMLK.
MLK Events in Seattle
2025 I Have a Dream 1M 5K 10K 13.1 26.2 - January 5, 2025 - January 31, 2025
2025 Annual Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Luncheon - January 17, 2025
MLK Jr Freedom Run 5K/10K/13.1 SEATTLE - January 18, 2025
MLK Celebration: With Liberty & Justice, For Whom? - January 19, 2025
Archives
- 2024 Social Justice Week
- 2023 Social Justice Week (inaugural year)