Educator Robert Moses, a pivotal organizer of the civil rights movement, will serve as keynote speaker at DePaul University’s annual Martin L. King, Jr. Prayer Breakfast to be held Jan. 19, 2009, from 7:30 until 9:30 a.m. in Room 120 of the Student Center, 2250 N. Sheffield Ave.

            Moses, who is founder and president of the Algebra Project, an experiential teaching method designed to transition middle school students from arithmetic to algebra, will speak on  “Sustaining King’s 1968 Dream into a 2008 Reality,” in reference to the United States’ historic presidential election.

             He also will share his firsthand experiences as a civil rights activist. First, as field organizer for the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), and later as a driving force behind the 1964 Mississippi Summer Project’s organization of the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party, which challenged the regular delegates at the Democratic National Convention in Atlantic City, N.J., to be seated.

            Moses holds a bachelor of arts degree from Hamilton College in Clinton, N.Y., and a master’s degree in philosophy from Harvard University. A native of New York, he has received numerous honorary degrees, including one from DePaul’s College of Liberal Arts and Sciences.

            King Day programs sponsored by DePaul’s College of Law will begin downtown at 10:30 a.m. in the DePaul Center, 1 E. Jackson Blvd, Room 8005, with an address by Terry Smith, a law professor at Fordham University. Smith’s areas of  research are employment and labor law, and voting rights. His book-in-progress is titled “Exodus to Independence: Race, Money and Transformation in American Politics.” A luncheon and panel discussion will begin at 11:15 a.m.

            The School for New Learning (SNL) will hold a King-related panel discussion Jan. 29, 4 to 6 p.m., DePaul Center, 1 E. Jackson Blvd., Lower Level Concourse. “Hope and Change: What Exactly Does it Mean?” will feature Prexy Nesbitt, M.A., activist and educator, internationally known as an expert on Africa, foreign policy and racism, and Mary Mitchell, award-winning Chicago Sun-Times columnist and board member. Panelists will lead a discussion on the impact of President-elect Barack Obama on the global community and the future of Africans, African-Americans and all other ethnic groups.     

            All DePaul events celebrating the King holiday are free and open to the public. Breakfast reservations are required by Jan. 12. Call 773-325-7759 or e-mail culturalcenter@depaul.edu to reserve a space.  E-mail luncheon reservations by Jan. 14 to lawevents@depaul.edu or call 312-362-6229. For more information about SNL’s panel discussion, call Shannon Stone at (312) 362-6367 or e-mail snlevents@depaul.edu.

Editors’ Note: Speakers’ photos are downloadable from DePaul’s Media Relations Web site at www.newsroom.depaul.edu .