On Saturday, Feb. 22 at 7 p.m., Modesto Junior College celebrates its 26th Annual Martin Luther King, Jr. Commemoration. Dr. Harry Edwards, lecturer, teacher and author, will be the keynote speaker at MJC’s Performing Arts & Media Center, 435 College Ave., Modesto. Edwards has a long and storied history of activism focused on the interface of sport, race and society. The title of his speech is: “Sports in The Struggle for Freedom and Justice 1900-2020.”

In 1960, Edwards was awarded an athletic scholarship to San Jose State University, graduating with honors in 1964. Subsequently, he was awarded a Woodrow Wilson Fellowship and a University Fellowship to Cornell University where he completed an M.A. and a Ph.D. in sociology. He was on the faculty of UC Berkeley from 1970-2001 and currently is Professor Emeritus in the Department of Sociology.

Dr. Edwards became a consultant on issues of diversity for all three major sports. He was hired by the Commissioner of Major League Baseball in 1987 to increase the representation of minorities and women. He has worked with the NBA’s Golden State Warriors and The San Francisco 49ers in the area of player personnel recruitment and counseling. The programs and methods that he developed for handling player personnel issues were adopted by the entire NFL in 1992.

For more information, contact Jim Costello, Chair of the Martin Luther King, Jr. Commemoration Committee: jimcostello@mac.com; (209) 402-9191, or visit: https://www.mjc.edu/news/mlkcommemoration2020.php.