A child helps paint a mural with a quote from Martin Luther King: "Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only the light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that."

MLK Day program to be held at Arts Council of Princeton

The Arts Council of Princeton’s annual Martin Luther King Jr. Day community event, to be held Jan. 20 at the council’s Paul Robeson Center for the Arts, is free and open to the public and features family-friendly activities.

Princeton University will join with community organizations on Monday, Jan. 20, to support the Arts Council of Princeton’s annual Martin Luther King Jr. Day community event.

The free program, which will be held from 9 a.m. to noon at the council’s Paul Robeson Center for the Arts, includes live music, interactive workshops and discussions relating to King’s life, teachings and civic engagement.

The day kicks off with a community breakfast featuring presentations by Ruha Benjamin, associate professor of African American studies at Princeton, and U.S. Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman of New Jersey’s 12th congressional district.

Martin Luther King Jr.

Martin Luther King Jr.

Benjamin specializes in the interdisciplinary study of science, medicine and technology; race-ethnicity and gender; and knowledge and power. She is the author of “People’s Science: Bodies and Rights on the Stem Cell Frontier” and “Race After Technology,” which was recently named to Fast Company’s list of “8 books on technology you should read in 2020.” Labyrinth Books will be on site to sell books, and there will be an opportunity to have them signed by Benjamin.

After breakfast, visitors can explore numerous art and history activities with the Arts Council, the Historical Society of Princeton and the Bayard Rustin Center for Social Justice. JaZams will offer a story time for children at 10:30 a.m. The First Baptist Church of Princeton Choir will perform at 11:30 a.m.

A detailed schedule of events is available through the Arts Council of Princeton, based at the Robeson Center, 102 Witherspoon Street, Princeton. For more information, visit the council’s website or call 609-924-8777.