Valparaiso University’s 2010 celebration of the life and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. will take place January 15 through 28 and focus on the theme "Dream with a Beat: Sing, Celebrate and Serve,” which was chosen to honor the power of music and the arts to unite and uplift communities past, present and future, empowering them to make positive social change. The annual event of Dr. King’s legacy features numerous activities including speakers, music and art that are open to the public.

James McBride, award-winning writer, composer and saxophonist, will headline the 2010 event as the keynote speaker for the Jan. 18 convocation set for 10 a.m. in the Chapel of the Resurrection. After the convocation, McBride will attend the luncheon and participate in a question and answer period.
 
McBride’s memoir, “The Color of Water: A Black Man's Tribute to His White Mother,” is a modern American classic read in colleges and high schools across the country. Valpo’s first year CORE students read the New York Times bestseller as the last text of the fall semester in a unit on love.
 
The book is a moving account of McBride’s mother, a white Jewish woman from Poland who raised 12 black children in New York City and sent each to college. The memoir has been translated into more than 17 languages, sold more than 2.1 million copies worldwide and is a perennial favorite of book clubs.
 
Read more about James McBride.