PULLMAN, Wash. — Morris Dees, co-founder of the Southern Poverty Law Center, will discuss “Hope and Tolerance for the New Millennium” during a Jan. 22 lecture as part of Washington State University’s 15th annual celebration of the life and legacy of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.
Dees’ program in WSU’s Beasley Performing Arts Coliseum begins at 7 p.m. and is open to the public without charge.
The celebration will be held the day after the WSU Martin Luther King Jr. Day holiday. Its theme is “Injustice Anywhere is a Threat to Justice Everywhere.”
Dees is chief trial counsel for the center, located in Montgomery, Ala. In 2000, he helped win a $6.3 million judgment against the Aryan Nations, which had its headquarters north of Coeur d’Alene, Idaho.
He has “long used lawsuits to destroy the finances of hate groups. In six such lawsuits, the lawyer has never lost,” according to the Associated Press.
Dees was born in 1936, in Shorter, Ala., and is a graduate of the University of Alabama and the University of Alabama Law School.
Prior to the program, students, faculty, staff and community members will participate in the university’s traditional Unity March at 5:45 p.m. on WSU’s Glenn Terrell Mall. The march starts at 6 p.m. and ends at the coliseum.
Among related activities is the fourth annual MLK Holiday Food Drive set for 7 a.m. – 7 p.m. on Jan. 21 at Pullman’s Safeway at Wheatland Center. Donated items will go to the Pullman Food Bank, which is housed at the Community Action Center.
