Sixty years ago, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. pushed for the successful passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the signature legislation of the Civil Rights Movement. With that victory, Dr. King turned his attention north, where he helped lead the Chicago Freedom Movement, a coalition of organizations that addressed the range of ills connected to residential segregation and economic inequality in Chicago. Though short-lived, the Chicago Freedom Movement is credited with inspiring the 1968 Fair Housing Act. This event takes stock of Dr. King’s legacy in Chicago and the nation, offering views on how far we’ve come, what work remains, and how best to carry out that work.

For this lively and wide-ranging discussion, FAN is collaborating with the brand-new Stanford Institute for Advancing Just Societies, led by founding co-directors Tomás R. Jiménez, Ph.D. and Brian Lowery, Ph.D. (FAN ’23). Together, we are honored to welcome two acclaimed leaders as panelists: award-winning author Lerone A. Martin, Ph.D., Professor in Religious Studies and African & African American Studies at Stanford University and director of Stanford’s Martin Luther King, Jr. Research and Education Institute, and Vaughn Bryant, executive director of Chicago-based Metropolitan Peace Initiatives (MPI), an organization that provides services to heal communities at the highest risk for gun violence. MPI’s core specialties include the Metropolitan Peace Academy, behavioral health, workforce readiness, legal aid, and street outreach supervision.

Moderating the panel will be Natalie Y. Moore, an award-winning journalist covering segregation and inequality for WBEZ, Chicago’s NPR affiliate. Her reporting tackles race, housing, economic development, food injustice, and violence and her work has been broadcast on the BBC and Marketplace, and on NPR’s Morning Edition, All Things Considered, and Weekend Edition. She is the author of The Billboard and The South Side: A Portrait of Chicago and American Segregation.