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Northwestern University School of Law celebrated Martin Luther King Jr. Day on the late civil rights activist's actual January 15 birthday this year. Events honoring the life and legacy of Dr. King ran throughout the week on the Chicago Campus. "Sankofa 2001: Learning from the past and Building for the Future," organized by the University's DREAM Committee and second-year law student co-chairs Asilia McMillan and Michelle Jordan, kicked off the week's events on Monday, January 15, in Thorne Auditorium.

After a welcome by Dean David Van Zandt, students from the law and medical schools, Curtis Crylen, Jenny Cushman, Emilio Torres-Lumsden, Julie Setren, and Andy Sawula performed U2's song "Martin Luther King."

In his keynote address, Ed Gordon, award-winning anchor and managing editor of BET News, spoke about images of minorities in the media and the effect stereotypes have on our perceptions.

He also urged the audience to look beyond the media and Hollywood's "Dreamer" image of Dr. King.

"He was so much more than that fantastic speech he gave in Washington DC," Gordon said.

Celebration of Dr. King's legacy continued all week with panel discussions at the Law School. On Tuesday, January 16, (below, from left) Mary Patillo-McCoy, assistant professor of sociology and African American studies at Northwestern University; F. Willis Caruso, co-executive director of the Fair Housing Legal Support Center and clinical director of the Fair Housing Legal Clinic at John Marshall Law School; and 4th Ward Alderman Toni Preckwinkle, discussed urban housing development in Chicago. The discussion revolved around two strands of Dr. King's work with the Chicago Freedom Project in the 60s -- urban slums and fair housing opportunities for African Americans.

Wednesday's panel discussed economic empowerment in the black community with Robert E Wordlaw, executive director of the Chicago Jobs Counsel; Richard R.W. Brooks, assistant professor of law at Northwestern; Linda Vernon Goldberg, general counsel for Shorebank Corporation; and Dorothy Tillman, 3rd Ward Alderman.

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