Cambridge Public Library to Hold 50th Annual Martin Luther King Jr. Day Lecture and Celebration 

On Tuesday, January 14, from 6-7:30 p.m., the Cambridge Public Library will welcome Reginald Dwayne Betts— a poet, lawyer, and the Executive Director of the nonprofit Freedom Reads—for a lecture celebrating the life and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. This event will take place in the Main Library Lecture Hall and online over Zoom. Registration is required for both virtual and in-person attendance. This is the 50th anniversary of the Library’s Annual Martin Luther King Jr. Day Lecture.

Reginald Dwayne Betts is a poet and lawyer. A 2021 MacArthur Fellow, he is the Executive Director of Freedom Reads, a not-for-profit organization that is radically transforming the access to literature in prisons through the installation of Freedom Libraries in prisons across this country. For more than twenty-years, he has used his poetry and essays to explore the world of prison and the effects of violence and incarceration on American society.

In addition to the lecture, the Central Square Branch will host a celebration in the Lewis Room, the original location of the MLK Jr. Day Lecture, on Thursday, January 9, from 7-8:30 p.m. The celebration will feature a performance from Lady Lee and the New Awakening Band, as well as the opportunity to explore the Central Square Branch’s Black Voices Collection and learn the history of MLK Jr. Day. Refreshments will be provided. Registration is helpful but not required.