Bernice King to deliver keynote at ODU’s 39th annual Martin Luther King Jr. observance

Bernice King, daughter of late civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr., will give the keynote address Tuesday at Old Dominion University for an event honoring her father. The school’s 39th annual Martin Luther King Jr. Observance is free and open to the public.

Bernice King is a minister, attorney, author and CEO of the Martin Luther King Jr. Center for Nonviolent Social Change — or The King Center — in Atlanta. The center was founded by her mother, Coretta Scott King, to promote social change.

Bernice King has led several initiatives and events, including the 2013 “Let Freedom Ring” event marking the 50th anniversary of the March on Washington and her father’s “I Have a Dream” speech.

The ODU event will be at 7 p.m. at Chartway Arena with parking at the Constant Center 43rd Street Garage. It will also honor the recipient of ODU’s Hugo Owens Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial award, which recognizes an individual or organization that has contributed to civil rights, politics, housing and social programs.

The award is named for Owens, a Portsmouth dentist who helped lead lawsuits that desegregated the city’s hospital, parks and libraries in the 1950s and ’60s. In 1970, he became one of the first two Blacks elected to the Chesapeake City Council. He died in 2008. A Chesapeake middle school is named for him.

Kelsey Kendall, kelsey.kendall@virginiamedia.com