Wright-Dunbar Business Village News

Reconciliation: Word and Song An Evening Event to Honor Wyatt Tee Walker

An evening of music and spoken word honoring Wyatt Tee Walker. Dr. Walker has a well established record as a civil rights leader, theologian, author, musician and cultural historian. His life's work has placed him at the forefront of the civil rights struggle, both here in the U.S. and abroad. He is being honored by the United Theological Seminary and by the Walker Fellows that have studied in his name.

One of the main focal points of Dr. Walker's life has been reconciliation of racial, ethnic and religious strife. The program will include musical works based on the poems of Paul Laurence Dunbar, whose life and poems were deeply affected by racism and oppression. Dunbar's words are a fitting tribute to Dr. Walker.

Who:
The event is being presented by The United Theological Seminary. Participants include speakers James Loewen, Valerie Bridgeman-Davis, Dayton's own Top Brass chamber ensemble, vocalists Sam Winston Jr. and Mary Elizabeth Southworth, and Dayton's Poet Laureate Dr. Herbert Martin. Directing the event is Dr. Larry Welborn, Interim Dean of the Doctoral Program at UTS. Attending the event will be approximately 200 Doctoral Candidates from UTS.

Where:
Christ Episcopal Church, 120 W. First Street, Dayton, OH

When:
Wednesday, August 18 at 7:00 PM

Admission:
This event is free and open to the public, Seating is on a first come basis.

Wyatt Tee Walker
Wyatt Tee Walker enjoys a well established record as an author, theologian, civil rights leader, and cultural historian. He is a double graduate of Virginia Union University, and holds a doctorate from Rochester Theological Center. His graduate studies and research have taken him to the University of Life in Nigeria and the University of Ghana. An exhibiting artist as well as a composer of sacred music, Jesse Jackson has called him "Harlem's Renaissance Man" because of his multiple gifts and varied careers. Widely traveled, he is regarded internationally as a human rights activist. Wyatt was the first African-American to meet with Chairman Yasir Arafat since the demilitarization of the Gaza Strip and Jericho, both occurrences underscoring his involvement as an anti apartheid activist and an advocate for Palestinian self-determination.

As a member of the international religious community, he has preached on every continent with the exception of Australia. He is a church historian and prolific author having published many books. He is also considered the nation's leading authority on the music of the African-American Church. His work in civil and human rights brought him to the attention of a seminary friend; Martin Luther King, Jr. King installed Walker in Atlanta as the first full-time Executive Director of the fledgling SCLC in 1960. Under Walker's administration, SCLC grew into a national power in the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s. Walker surreptitiously transported King's famous "Letter from a Birmingham Jail" past the jailers and publicly disseminated this seminal civil rights document. Walker suffered numerous serious physical injuries during the struggle for civil rights.

On April 10, 1968, at the request of Coretta King, he made the arrangements for Dr. King's funeral services at Ebenezer and Morehouse College. Walker describes this as "the most challenging and difficult task of my life". His experience in government was via ten years of service as Urban Affairs Specialist to Governor Nelson Rockefeller's troubleshooter, quieting racial tensions that accompanied school desegregation and labor disputes.

From his office in central Harlem, he proposed and gained approval for the Harlem State Office Building and convened a community advisory board that advised the Governor on the state agencies it should house. In 1975, Wyatt Tee Walker joined the Board of Directors of Freedom National Bank and served for a decade. During which time he served three terms as Chairman of the Board of this institution, the nation's largest and most profitable minority-owned bank.

For More Information CONTACT: Dr. Larry Welborn 937-278-5817 or at llwelborn@united.edu