The Reverend Joseph E. Lowery, an icon of the civil rights movement, will serve as keynote speaker at Oakland Community College’s second annual Martin Luther King, Jr. Day Convocation, Friday, January 13.  Gospel music selections by the Detroit Mosaic Youth Choir and readings by OCC students will also be featured.

The event begins at 2:00 p.m. in the Smith Theatre on OCC’s Orchard Ridge Campus in Farmington Hills.  Admission is free and the public is invited.

Along with Dr. King , Dr. Lowery was co-founder of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference in 1957.  He was the organization’s vice president from 1957 to 1967 when he was named board chairman.  He was later elected president and chief executive officer, and on retirement named president emeritus.

Dr. Lowery’s activities as a civil rights advocate began in Mobile, Alabama where he headed the Alabama Civic Affairs Association in the early 50’s.  The group led the movement for the city’s desegregation of buses and public accommodations.

Dr. Lowery led the movement to desegregate public accommodations in Nashville, Tennessee and was arrested in Atlanta, Georgia in 1968 while fighting for the rights of city garbage workers. 

He also led the historic Alabama to Washington, DC march in 1982 which helped secure extensions of provisions of the Voting Rights Act to 2007.

 Dr. Lowery holds numerous awards for his activism.  In 2001 Clark-Atlanta University announced the establishment of the Joseph E. Lowery Institute for Justice & Human Rights.

For further information email Lloyd Crews at lccrews@oaklandcc.edu, or call

(248) 246-2611.

The Orchard Ridge Campus is located at 27055 Orchard Lake Road, just south of I-696.  Ample free parking is available in lots near the Smith Theatre.

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