In honor of Martin Luther King Jr. Day, Walla Walla University (WWU) will present a special community event titled “The Color of Freedom” on Monday, Jan. 16, at 11 a.m. in the WWU Church, 212 SW 4th St., College Place.
The event will feature two speakers well known to residents of southeast Washington. Terrie Aamodt, WWU professor of history and English, will present her research on the history of racial policy in the Pacific Northwest. Terrance Taylor, pastor of the Ephesus Seventh-day Adventist Church in Pasco, Wash., will share his life story, including his experience as a black man studying at WWU.
Professor Aamodt specializes in the Civil War and Reconstruction, and visual culture. She has a master’s degree in English from The College of William and Mary and a doctorate in American and New England studies from Boston University. Her teaching resume includes classes about the Civil War, American government, United States history, the Vietnam War, African-American experience, and baseball and American popular culture.
Pastor Taylor grew up in one of the most diverse communities in Minneapolis, Minn., which was home to many Native American, Asian, Jewish, African-American, and Latino families. At the age of 13 he volunteered to work for a community organization that fought to close the only liquor store in the nation that was located next to a school. It was after that experience that Taylor was drawn to community work and social activism. His family moved to the West Coast—first California and then Seattle—and Taylor enrolled as a student at WWU in 2003. He has a bachelor's degree in theology from WWU.
The events on Jan. 16, a special day of celebration and remembrance, will include a peace march and candlelight vigil sponsored by Whitman College (WC). Community members are invited to join students from WC, WWU, and Walla Walla Community College as they gather at 4 p.m. at the WC Reid Campus Center, 280 Boyer Ave., Walla Walla. Participants will hold candles as they walk through downtown Walla Walla to the Gesa Powerhouse Theater, 111 N. 6th Ave., Walla Walla, where students from the three colleges will present music and readings.
All events are free and open to the public.
Posted January 6, 2017
