The Fierce Urgency of Now: Strengthening Partnerships between Universities and Communities 

Free and open to the public.

Food will be served.

Dr. King used the phrase “fierce urgency of now” and called for immediate “vigorous and positive action" to end segregation and the unequal treatment of African Americans. This program will discuss how the current situation also calls for "vigorous and positive action," requiring, among other things, the development and strengthening of democratic university-community partnerships for social change and social justice. 

Opening Remarks:

Valerie Dorsey Allen, Director of Penn’s African-American Resource Center

Ira Harkavy, Associate Vice President and Founding Director of Penn’s Netter Center for Community Partnerships

Panelists:

Sharif El-Mekki, Principal, Mastery Charter School – Shoemaker Campus; Netter Center Community Advisory Board Member

John Jackson Jr., Dean of the School of Social Policy and Practice and Richard Perry University Professor of Communication, Africana Studies, and Anthropology; Netter Center Faculty Advisory Board Co-Chair 

Heidi Lee, Penn C’19; Netter Center Civic Development Intern

Anea Moore, Penn C’19; Netter Center Civic Development Intern

Carol Muller, Professor and Graduate Chair of Music; Netter Center Faculty Fellow and Faculty Director of Urban Arts, Culture, and Humanities

A program of Penn's Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Commemorative Symposium on Social Change sponsored by the Netter Center for Community Partnerships and the African-American Resource Center