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Jan. 12, 2015 – The Rev. Dr. Allan Boesak, a world leader in the struggle for human rights who helped lead anti-apartheid efforts in South Africa, will speak at Allegheny College when the college community celebrates the life and legacy of Martin Luther King Jr. The public is invited to Boesak’s presentation at 11 a.m. on Monday, Jan. 19 in the college’s Ford Chapel.

His talk is also part of the college’s Year of Voting Rights and Democratic Participation, which celebrates the 50th anniversary of the Voting Rights Act and serves as the academic centerpiece of the college’s bicentennial celebration.

The program to celebrate Martin Luther King Jr. Day will also include a day of service on Jan. 17; an interdenominational worship service at 11 a.m. on Jan. 18 in Ford Chapel; and workshops by students, faculty and staff throughout the day on Jan. 19.

Allan Aubrey Boesak, with Nelson Mandela and Desmond Tutu, was one of the leaders of the anti-apartheid movement in South Africa. A liberation theologian, he has devoted his life to working for human rights, including issues of social, economic, sexual, ecological and gender justice.

Boesak holds the Desmond Tutu Chair of Peace, Global Justice and Reconciliation Studies and is founding director of the Desmond Tutu Center for Peace, Reconciliation and Global Justice at Butler University and Christian Theological Seminary in Indianapolis.

He served as national vice president of the South African Council of Churches and, together with Archbishop Desmond Tutu and Frank Chikane, gave leadership to the ecumenical movement in South Africa during the crucial years of the intensification of the struggle against apartheid. He was the first, in 1979, to call for a day of prayer for the fall of the apartheid regime.

A fervent advocate for direct, nonviolent action, he co-sponsored key resolutions at the SACC national conferences on civil disobedience. His open letter to Minister of Police Alwyn Schlebush in 1979, a passionate defense of civil disobedience and a theological rationale for the right of the church to engage in such actions, has been published all over the world.

In 1983 Boesak called for the formation of the United Democratic Front, a movement of civic, student, worker and religious organizations that brought together more than 700 organizations from all communities. The UDF became the first genuinely nonracial movement and the main force behind anti-apartheid activities in South Africa during the decisive decade of the 1980s.

Together with Archbishop Tutu and other leaders, he campaigned internationally for sanctions against the apartheid regime and was especially active in the final campaign for financial sanctions during the late 1980s.

A complete schedule for the college’s observance of Martin Luther King Jr. Day can be found on the website of the college’s Center for Intercultural Advancement and Student Success: https://sites.allegheny.edu/ciass/.

More information on Year of Voting Rights and Democratic Participation events at Allegheny College can be found at www.allegheny.edu/200.