Two speakers—a children’s book writer and a poet—are guests at event

To say that Christopher Stokes is thrilled to talk about the guest speakers for the virtual festivities during the upcoming University of Tennessee at Chattanooga MLK Day 2021 would be an understatement.

“We are really excited about both of our speakers, and they will be sharing very, very distinct stories,” said Stokes, UTC Office of Multicultural Affairs assistant director. “They have very distinct ways of reaching their audiences, but their messages are equally impactful.”

Martin Luther King’s life and legacy will be celebrated through a pair of virtual speaking engagements taking place Friday, Jan. 29, via Zoom. The University’s annual MLK Day event will be highlighted by a discussion and Q&A session with Meena Harris, the founder and CEO of Phenomenal and a New York Times bestselling author.

As founder of the Phenomenal brand, which produces apparel emblazoned with social and motivational phrases, Harris is a respected entrepreneur and is recognized as an influential voice for women’s equality. The Phenomenal Woman Action Campaign is a civic engagement and cross-media marketing platform that supports women’s causes.

She also is an attorney with experience in consumer protection, data privacy and cybersecurity.

In June 2020, she published a bestselling children’s book, Kamala and Maya’s Big Idea, which is based on the story of her mother, Maya Harris, and her aunt Kamala Harris, now the vice president of the United States. Meena Harris’s second children’sbook, Ambitious Girl, was released on Jan. 19.

“Meena was just at the inauguration on Wednesday. To be able to see her there with her family was special,” Stokes said. “We had been working on getting her for a while. To be able to see that come to fruition with everything happening was just amazing.

“Even though she has deep associations with Vice President Harris, Meena has in her own right carved out her own path. She has been a trailblazer. On top of that, she’s very family-oriented. Think about it, she’s 36 years old and she’s doing all these amazing things.”

The discussion and Q&A with Harris will be moderated by Andrea Lyons, interim assistant vice chancellor of alumni affairs at UTC.

Prior to Harris’ appearance, a virtual visit with renowned poet and spoken word artist Alex Tha Great—the youth keynote speaker—will take place.

In past years, Stokes said upwards of 200 high school students would be invited to the UTC campus to participate in MLK Day festivities. The students would get a chance to speak to admissions counselors and participate in a series of campus activities. With in-person events on hold due to the pandemic, a youth speaker was added to talk to UTC and high school students.

Alex Tha Great (given name Alexandria Gurley) has been traveling around the country, promoting social justice since 2011, performing in various venues, colleges and stages as a diversity trainer and workshop leader. She is the author of three books, the runner-up for the 2018 National Civil Rights Museum Drop the Mic Poetry Slam and a 2017 Women of the World Poetry Slam finalist.

“Alex Tha Great brings a different approach to reaching our youth and our UTC students. She is someone focused on the youth dynamic, and she also has some real-life lessons that they could gain a lot from,” Stokes said. “She shows how you can have multiple facets of how to reach and how to engage. We thought that it would be more appropriate for youth audiences to help them become more engaged in a virtual setting.”

For MLK Day 2021, the Office of Multicultural Affairs partnered with the Office of Equity and Inclusion, the Department of Communication, the Center for Women and Gender Equity, the Office of Alumni Affairs and the Office of Student and Family Engagement.

“This shows the strength of how—when collaborations happen—we can do some tremendous things,” Stokes said. “This is another opportunity for the campus to show its commitment to diversity, inclusion and equity while also bringing students, faculty and staff together into this space.

“In a college experience, you learn so much in the classroom, but this event brings the world here. You have someone that’s directly engaged in some of the most pivotal landmark events that happened in our country. We have someone that can tell us exactly how that happened and is a part of making that happen. With all of that, I think it shows the level of how UTC is on the pulse of things happening here in our nation.”