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Tamika Mallory gains honorary doctorate

In News, News & Events by KHarrington

  SALISBURY – Award-winning social justice activist Tamika Mallory is officially a Blue Bear of Livingstone College. The national movement strategist and author received an honorary doctorate degree in humane letters on May 6 during the college’s 141st commencement at Varick Auditorium, after delivering a powerful commencement address. She told the Class of 2023 that they are the light of the world – the same light that Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. said can drive out darkness, and the light that former First Lady Michelle Obama said can feed the person next to you and ignite our community. “Shine bright, Livingstone College, class of 2023,” Mallory said. “Don’t forget the legacy. Don’t forget where you come from. Don’t forget the stories. Don’t’ forget the sacrifice … Don’t forget Dr. (Joseph Charles) Price … but most importantly, don’t forget your own big mama and papa, who also wouldn’t die. Don’t forget your people and lastly, don’t forget yourself. Let us together, reshape a new world. Stand up, stand in your power.” Mallory told the students to use their privilege of crossing this stage as a boat to safe harbor and “make sure you are the light for all of those coming behind.” “I knew I made the right choice in having you deliver the commencement address for my first May graduation as president,” said Livingstone President Dr. Anthony J. Davis. He thanked her for the work that she does as a social justice practitioner and for speaking truth to power. …

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Graduation speaker: Activist Tamika Mallory

In News, News & Events by KHarrington

Social justice activist and leader Tamika Mallory will address the 2023 graduating class of Livingstone College. The May commencement will be held at 9 a.m. on Saturday, May 6, on the historic front lawn. Weather permitting, this will be the first time graduation ceremonies will held on the front lawn. In case of inclement weather, the program will move inside Varick Auditorium. Livingstone College’s 13th President Dr. Anthony J. Davis secured Mallory as the speaker, the latest in social justice leaders to engage with the college, following visits by famed Attorney Ben Crump, the Rev. Dr. Jamal Bryant and the Rev. Dr. Otis Moss III. Mallory is a groundbreaking, award-winning social justice leader, movement strategist and author. Her committed work and advocacy continue to fuel a solitary act into a global movement, inspiring millions around the world to get involved in the fight for racial and social equality. She is the author of State of Emergency, a reflective masterpiece birthed from the urgent declaration she made in the opening of her speech during the George Floyd protests in Minneapolis. Mallory served as the youngest ever executive director of the National Action Network and was instrumental in the creation of the New York City’s Crisis Management System, an official gun violence prevention program that awards nearly $27 million to violence prevention organizations annually. She made history when she helped shepherd the largest single day demonstration, the 2017 Women’s March on Washington, serving as one of its four national co-chairs. Most recently, …