Henry Louis Gates Jr. to give keynote at RIT's 'Expressions of King's Legacy' celebration

Henry Louis Gates Jr. is set to deliver the keynote address at the Rochester Institute of Technology’s 40th Expressions of King’s Legacy, an annual celebration of Dr. Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.

The Jan. 27 event is free and open to the public, lasting from noon to 2 p.m. at the Gordon Field House and Activities Center.

Gates is well known for his PBS genealogy series Finding Your Roots, now on its eighth season which is broadcasting on local public stations including WXXI.

He has also created 23 documentary films, including Black America Since MLK: And Still I Rise and Wonders of the African World. His four-hour series on the 400-year history of the Black church in America is streaming online.

Gates' written work have been featured in the New Yorker and The New York Times. In 2008, Gates co-founded TheRoot.com, for which he continues to serve as chairman. Gates oversees the Oxford African American Studies Center, which is the first comprehensive scholarly online resource in the field. Gates’ curriculum “Find Your Roots” was developed to help teach students science through genetics and genealogy.

Gates is also the Alphonse Fletcher University Professor and director of the Hutchins Center for African and African American research at Harvard. He became the first Black scholar to be awarded the National Humanities Medal in 1998. In 1981, he was a member of the first class of “genius grants” awardees by the MacArthur Foundation.

Keith Jenkins is RIT’s vice president and associate provost  for diversity and inclusion.

“We are ecstatic to welcome a scholar and journalist of Gates’s stature to RIT for Expressions of King’s Legacy,” Jenkins said in a statement. “This event is an important part of RIT’s cultural fabric, and we invite all from the RIT and greater Rochester area communities to come and hear crucial insights from Dr. Gates.”

Registration is required for the January 27th event at which interpreters will be provided. All attendees ages 12 or older must provide proof of COVID-10 vaccination. Register online at https://www.rit.edu/diversity/2022expressions

Adria R. Walker covers public education for the Democrat and Chronicle in partnership with Report for America. Follow her on Twitter at @adriawalkr or send her an email at arwalker@gannett.com. You can support her work with a tax-deductible donation to Report for America.

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