MLK Day 2018: Former AG Lynch To Speak At Wayne State

DETROIT, MI – Loretta Lynch, the first African-American woman appointed as U.S. attorney general, will be the keynote speaker for Wayne State University’s annual Martin Luther King Jr. Tribute at the Max M. and Marjorie S. Fisher Theater on Friday, Jan. 12.

Lynch will also sit for a moderated chat and question-and-answer session with local middle- and high-school students.

“As we seek to honor the legacy of Dr. King, we are thrilled to be joined by an attorney general who herself has been a trailblazer, history-maker and a staunch defender of King’s dream of justice and equality for all Americans,” said Wayne State President M. Roy Wilson. “Now as much as ever, it is critical that we all re-affirm our commitment to these values, which remain firmly at the core of Wayne State’s mission.”

The program, the 18th MLK tribute that Wayne State has sponsored since 1997, also will feature poetry and music by local high school students, as well as performances by Wayne State’s Black Dance Ensemble.

Past speakers include Olympic sprinter Allyson Felix, retired judge and civil-rights leader Damon J. Keith, organizer and author Van Jones and former astronaut Mae Jemison.

Lynch served as the 83rd Attorney General of the United States under President Barack Obama. Under her leadership the Department of Justice focused extensively on national security and terrorism, corruption both domestic and international, human trafficking, and improving the relationship between law enforcement and the communities they serve.

Tickets for the 2018 tribute, which is open to the public, are $10 to attend the program only, $65 for the program and luncheon, and $500 for a 10-pack of program and luncheon tickets. They can be purchased here.

File photo by Elise Amendola/AP