The MLK Jr. Memorial lecture is an annual Wellesley event that pays tribute to the legacy of Martin Luther King Jr. and his enormous contribution to advancing civil rights in the United State by leading and inspiring legislative, administrative, behavioral, and attitudinal changes.

The 2019 lecture will be given by Jabari Asim, associate professor of writing, literature, and publishing at Emerson College in Boston and executive editor of The Crisis, the NAACP’s flagship journal of politics, ideas, and culture. He is the author of six books for adults and nine for children. His most recent works are Only the Strong (2015), A Child's Introduction to African American History (2018), and We Can’t Breathe (2018).