Jan. 6, 2022
Contact Eric Weinberg at 608-796-3045 or egweinberg@viterbo.edu
ENVIRONMENTAL EPIDEMIOLOGIST AND AUTHOR DR. SYLVIA HOOD WASHINGTON TO PRESENT KEYNOTE ADDRESS AT THE LA CROSSE COMMUNITY ANNUAL DR. MARTIN LUTHER KING JR. CELEBRATION AT VITERBO UNIVERSITY JAN. 17
LA CROSSE, Wis. – Dr. Sylvia Hood Washington, a highly accomplished environmental epidemiologist, clinician, and historian with over 30 years of research experience addressing the impact of industrial pollution on human health, will present the keynote address at the La Crosse Community Annual Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Celebration at 7 p.m. Monday, Jan. 17 in the Viterbo University Fine Arts Center Main Theatre.
Dr. Washington is the author of Packing Them In: An Archaeology of Environmental Racism in Chicago, 1865–1954 and Echoes from the Poisoned Well: Global Memories of Environmental Injustice. She is also the creator and editor-in-chief of the first international environmental health disparities journal, Environmental Justice, and regularly serves as a consultant to environmental law firms and grass roots community groups about the history of industrial operations, transportation systems, and municipal planning’s impact on human health and environmental health disparities.
The live keynote address will be presented virtually as Dr. Washington will not be personally in attendance. All other parts of the program, including the award presentations and musical performances, will be done in person.
The MLK Leadership Award, which honors extraordinary contributions to the La Crosse community that demonstrate Dr. King’s legacy of positive change from generation to generation, will also be presented. This year’s award recipient is Antoiwana Williams, director of the Office of Multicultural Student Services at the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse.
The Lynda Lowry Student Leadership Award will be presented to a local high school student. The award is named in honor of the youngest marcher in the historic 1965 voting rights march from Selma to Montgomery, Ala. A special Dr. King Beloved Community recognition will be presented to Tashyra Jackson and Shamawyah Curtis, co-founders and co-directors of Hope Restores. Thomas Harris will also be recognized for his longtime outstanding service on the La Crosse Community Annual Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Celebration committee.
Viterbo will also hold its second annual MLK Day of Service, Learning, and Celebration Jan. 17. The university will honor Martin Luther King Jr. with a morning of community service followed by a series of educational workshops in the afternoon.
The Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Celebration is organized by the La Crosse Community Annual Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Celebration Committee, co-sponsored by a wide variety of community organizations, and hosted by Viterbo University. Williams’ appearance is co-sponsored by the D.B. Reinhart Institute for Ethics in Leadership at Viterbo University. The event is held each year to honor the legacy of Dr. King, an American civil rights hero and icon.
For more information on this community-wide celebration, visit www.viterbo.edu/MLK.
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