UNC Hussman honors life and legacy of Martin Luther King Jr. with events, community conversations

By Beth Hatcher

The UNC Hussman School of Journalism and Media community hosted events on Tuesday, Jan. 17, during the University’s Jan. 15-22 Week of Celebration honoring the life and legacy of Martin Luther King Jr.

The school hosted an evening conversation with Frank McCain Jr. — son of civil rights activist Franklin McCain, part of the “Greensboro Four” who staged the sit-in at a Woolworth store in Greensboro, North Carolina, on Feb. 1, 1960.

Earlier in the day, students, faculty and staff participated in a student-led walk-out/sit-out event in which graduate student Jade Wilson engaged the community in discussion about their experiences and ideas for building a stronger and more inclusive community.

UNC Hussman Adjunct Instructor Carl Kenney, the founder of Liberation Station North Carolina and publisher of the online independent newspaper Durham Rev-elution, moderated the conversation with McCain.

Photos from the walk-out/sit-out event below are by Jafar Fallahi.

Raul Reis, dean of UNC Hussman, began the conversation with remarks about King's important place in American civil rights history and the cultural relevance of his seminal "I Have a Dream" speech.

"Only someone as intelligent and audaciously imaginative as [King] could in 1963 come up with a speech such as 'I Have a Dream,' which rivals and complements Abraham Lincoln's 'Gettysburg Address' for the precise and concise way it simultaneously illuminates and shatters our reality, casting an optimistic beacon of light into the future. In the case of Lincoln, into our future as a nation capable of thriving and inspiring other nations — in Dr. King's case into our future as a human race."

Kenney noted that McCain's career path — McCain currently serves as vice president of institutional investment at Greensboro's Bennett College, and has served as vice president of community investment and impact at United Way of Greater Greensboro — mirrors his father's work, which supported the same community. "We thank you that you continue the legacy of your father, who had the boldness to sit down when many would not even stand up," Kenney said to McCain.

The conversation visited McCain’s upbringing, students finding a home on campus and ideas on how the school can create a more welcoming and inclusive environment. McCain also reflected on the impact of his father's civil rights work in his own life, which often played out as both a privilege and a challenge.

His father's fame at times drew McCain into the limelight. Even as a young man, he had to deal with the many different opinions his father's activism produced — and not all of them were positive. From his father, he learned to stay focused.

"My father would often tell us that he wanted us ... to have so many more opportunities than he did, that he didn't want us to struggle the way he and my mother had struggled ... 'I want you to be the result of the dreams I used to have,'” McCain remembered his father saying. “I believe that my brothers and I, along with our kids, are living what his dreams were for us."

Read these Daily Tar Heel stories summarizing the walk-out/ sit-out event and the  the McCain conversation.

Below, check out a slideshow of photos from the conversation by Eleazar Yisreal '25.