Queens College hosted its annual celebration honoring the life and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. on Sunday, Jan. 18, one day before Martin Luther King Jr. Day, at the Goldstein Theatre on the Flushing university’s campus.
The event, titled “Where do we go from here,” featured a live musical performance by jazz musician Tyreek McDole and addresses from Queens Borough President Donovan Richards, honoree, activist, journalist and author Carol Jenkins, Queens College President Frank Wu and others.
“Dr Martin Luther King was a man, a hero, whose words and actions continue to guide and inspire us, not just this day, but throughout the year,” Wu said. “Even though decades have passed, this message of justice, equality and hope is alive and even more needed now. Please know that we try to live every day for our community projects, advocacy for students who are so deserving and our educational programs. We like to strengthen the connections to the community as a civic institution on campus throughout the neighborhood.”
In addition to speaking at the event, Jenkins was also presented with the 2026 Queens College Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Award, as well as a Proclamation from Richards.
“Carol Jenkins, esteemed journalist, author, civil rights advocate, you have devoted your entire career, your life, to advancing racial and gender justice in the spirit of Dr King,” Wu said. Originally from Alabama, you moved to New York City at young age, growing up on Merrick
Boulevard in Jamaica, Queens, and you’ve been making your mark on the borough, the city, the state and the nation ever since, from your groundbreaking work as Emmy award-winning broadcast journalist amplifying the stories of inequality to your leadership as founding president of the Women’s Media Center and later as president and CEO of the ERA Coalition and Fund for Women’s Equality. You’ve been a driving force behind national efforts. This advocacy has helped to build broad, inclusive coalitions committed to dismantling those systematic barriers and expanding civil rights protections for each and every human being. You serve as the host of black America on CUNY TV and continue to be so highly respected and effective as an activist and communicator. In recognition of your many decades of courageous service and unwavering commitment, we are so pleased to invite the borough president to present you with a special proclamation.”
This annual celebration also recognizes Dr. King’s connections to Queens College. Following the murders of then Queens College student Andrew Goodman and fellow activists James Chaney and Michael Schwerner at the hands of the Ku Klux Klan in 1964 in Mississippi for voter activism, Dr. King visited the school in the spring of 1965 to speak on the impact of peaceful resistance.
“This school honors [Dr. King’s] legacy every single day by helping the diverse student body fulfill their dreams and reach their highest potential. Students of all colors, races, religions, ethnicities, sexual orientations and gender identities gather here each and every day for the noble pursuit of higher education. They are aided by teachers, staff members and administrators committed to help all Queens College students secure a better future for themselves and their families, and it’s no wonder why Dr King visited Queens College on May 13, 1965,” Richards said. “King here paid tribute to Andrew Goodman, Queens College student and a civil rights activist was brutally murdered in Mississippi one year earlier while trying to register black residents to vote. Andrew embodied allyship and all that makes Queens College and this borough greater. Speaking about Andrew, Dr King said that he, along with others, paid the supreme price for this struggle, and I’m sure that we will see in many ways that his death and their deaths were not in vain. Take a look around this campus. There’s evidence all around us that both of their deaths were not in vain. And I know for a fact that I would not have been the first black man elected to be your borough president if Dr. King and the civil rights movement did not exist.”
“It is absolutely my honor to be included in this program today that has already had so many moving comments about Martin Luther King, about Queens, about the time that we’re in,” Jenkins said. “Today, we were talking about some of the amazing progress that’s taken place with this university. We’re celebrating Martin Luther King Jr. We’re also remembering the ultimate sacrifice of student Andrew Goodman. Here in the county of Queens, home to over 1 million immigrants representing some 160 countries, making it, I think, the most diverse county in the country, maybe even the world.”
