Note from the Editor

I want to welcome you to this inaugural special issue of Penumbra, “Exploring Martin Luther King Jr. Legacy Studies.” This is, I hope, a start to exploring the rich and diverse scholarship emerging from the Interdisciplinary Studies Ph.D. program at the Union Institute & University. Union’s Ph.D. program brings together not only diverse scholars, but [...]

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Special Issue: Introduction

For a dozen years Martin Luther King Jr. Legacy Studies has sparkled as a jewel in the crown of UIU’s Interdisciplinary Ph.D. Program—a beacon of our commitment to social justice, human rights, and the health of our “world house.” So it is fitting that MLK Legacy Studies has produced this special issue of Penumbra to [...]

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Engaging for Positive Peace

The leadership of Martin Luther King Jr. has been confabulated into sound bites etching his “I Have A Dream Speech” into history textbooks as if that persuaded a more just society (Theoharis 2018, 9). But in this day, like previous generations, it would be a mistake to think rhetoric builds inclusive coalitions. During that iconic [...]

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A Vision of the Promised Land: The Enduring Legacy of MLK’s Grassroots Campaign for Economic Justice

Introduction The life and legacy of the Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr. demonstrate that there is an inextricable link between civil rights and silver rights. The issue of economic justice has been both a political and spiritual concern. Discussions of poverty and economic exploitation have been synonymous with the demands of justice and righteousness for [...]

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Youth Movements Tackle “Big Man” Leadership in the Democratic Republic of Congo

In the overnight hours of January 9, 2019, Felix Tshisekedi was proclaimed the fifth president of the Democratic Republic of Congo. While there remain unofficial doubts about the results' accuracy, the December 30 election marks the first time since independence in 1960 that the government has transferred power through a democratic process (Reid 2018). When [...]

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Nashville Organized for Action and Hope: A Representation of the Beloved Community

In one of my many sermonic discourses, I urgently and adamantly proclaimed: We are called to be one people, but despite our calling, there has always been one wall or another separating and dividing us. For we are separated and divided by walls of doctrinal dissent and denominational decisions; economic class and educational background; and [...]

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Leadership in Prison Educational Programs at HBCUs

Now is the time for all Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) to offer degrees to persons behind the New Jim Crow era wall. I read with great anticipation the article “Correctional education: ‘America’s balm of Gilead,’ by Dr. Tracy Andrus.  He is a Ph.D. who currently serves as Director of the Lee P. Brown [...]

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Reimagining American Democracy: Community not Chaos

In democratic countries knowledge of how to combine is the mother of all other forms of knowledge. One may think of political associations as great free schools to which all citizens come to be taught the general theory of association. (Alexis de Tocqueville, Democracy in America)This ugly pandemic has opened up a path to a [...]

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