MLK Award Ceremony and Keynote

Highlighting home grown talent through home grown stories, this year’s MLK keynote event will be headlined by Dr. Marc Robinson. Marc has served as an assistant professor for History at California State University, San Bernardino (CSUSB) since 2018 and teaches courses on African American and US History. Before CSUSB, Robinson was Visiting Assistant Professor of History and Ethnic Studies at Whitworth University from 2016 to 2018, where he was bestowed with the 2017 Provost’s Junior Faculty Award for outstanding teaching and service. Prior to that, he was an Instructor in the Department of Critical Culture, Gender, and Race Studies at Washington State University, and was also a diversity affairs administrator. Dr. Robinson earned his PhD in American Studies from Washington State University in 2012. His research focuses on the Civil Rights and Black Power Movements in the Pacific Northwest. Using that research focus, Dr. Robinson’s wrote the book, Washington State Rising: Black Power on Campus in the Pacific Northwest. The book is a part of the Black Power Series of New York University Press. It re-positions debates about the Civil Rights Movement, placing the Pacific Northwest within that framework. It is the first monograph to uncover the inspiring activism and outstanding contributions of the Black Student Union in the state of Washington. Dr. Robinson’s wide-ranging talk will dive into this organization of intrepid college students spearheaded a number of racial injustice campaigns, including a Seattle-wide youth outreach program, a sit-in and occupation of the University of Washington president’s office, confrontations with law enforcement in rural Washington, and successful initiatives for Black Studies and other reforms in higher education. The addition of the Civil Rights and Black Power Movements in the Pacific Northwest adds new dimensions to existing scholarship and broadens our understanding of the period. Dr. Robinson will discuss his research and book for participants in order to help them to discover and understand the enormous contributions of the Black Student Unions throughout the state of Washington to advancing the causes of equity and inclusion in the United States.

If you would like to attend in-person, please join us in Pullman at the CUB Sr. Ballroom from 6-8pm. If you will be joining virtually, a YouTube link will be emailed to you.

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