Actor Mark Willis, a UW communication graduate and a former member of the Cowboys
football team, is the Martin Luther King Jr. Days of Dialogue keynote speaker. Willis,
a Screen Actors Guild Award-winning actor from the film “Black Panther,” is scheduled
to speak Thursday, Feb. 6, at 7 p.m. in the Wyoming Union Ballroom. (Marvel Studios
Photo)
Afrofuturism, a movement in literature, music and art, featuring futuristic or science
fiction themes that incorporate elements of black history and culture, will be the
focus of the annual Martin Luther King Jr. Days of Dialogue (MLK DOD). Events are
Feb. 2-7 at the University of Wyoming.
This year, MLK DOD events are scheduled during the first week of February. Through
the annual week of programming, UW celebrates the continuing impact of King’s life
and ideals, organizers say.
“The MLK DOD tradition is intended to expand institutional awareness about issues
of diversity and social justice; to foster an inclusive community; and to empower
individuals to act in solidarity with marginalized communities,” says co-chair Natawsha
Mitchell, UW Multicultural Affairs senior project coordinator. “The Days of Dialogue
serve as a renewal of UW’s commitment to making campus a more welcoming and empowering
place for people from different backgrounds, heritages, orientations, abilities and
perspectives.”
She is co-chair, along with Aaron Lozano, Associated Students of UW senior program
coordinator.
The MLK DOD keynote speaker is actor Mark Willis, a UW communication graduate and
a former member of the Cowboys football team. Willis is a Screen Actors Guild Award-winning
actor and model. His talk is Thursday, Feb. 6, at 7 p.m. in the Wyoming Union Ballroom.
Willis, from Oak Park, Ill., played for the Cowboys as a defensive end from 2009-2012,
lettering the final three years of his football career. He has appeared in several
television shows and films. In 2018, he appeared in the critically acclaimed Marvel
film “Black Panther,” performing stunts, which earned him and others in the film a
Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Action Performance by a Stunt Ensemble in
a Motion Picture. His other credits include the television shows “Shameless,” “Chicago
PD,” “Chicago Fire” and “Empire.”
Willis also has modeled, appearing in Target’s Goodfellow & Co. brand campaigns, and
he has appeared in commercials for companies such as Pepsi. He volunteers at different
schools in the Chicago area, talking to students and encouraging them to “never give
up on their journey.”
Following Willis’ talk, Keenan The First will perform in The Gardens, located in the
lower level of the Wyoming Union. The performer is Keenan Montgomery, also a former
UW football player from Chicago, Ill. Montgomery, a UW English graduate who also is
an accomplished writer, played wide receiver and special teams for the Cowboys from
2011-14.
Keenan The First is a versatile, hybrid artist, with sounds in the rap and R&B sections
of the hip-hop genre, and he serves as one of the budding young songwriting talents
in the music industry. This past year, he worked alongside Sony Music and Reach Records
as a songwriter, and his song “It’s You,” with Aleks James, appeared in Episode 10
of CW’s “All American,” which is available on Netflix.
Keenan The First will perform Thursday, Feb. 6, at 8 p.m. in The Gardens, located
in the lower level of the Wyoming Union, as part of Martin Luther King Jr. Days of
Dialogue events. Keenan The First is Keenan Montgomery, a UW English graduate and
a former member of the Cowboys football team. (Krystal Sojourner Photo)
For more information about Keenan The First, visit the website www.keenanthefirst.com/.
This year’s MLK DOD theme, “Afrofuturism in a Rural Context,” will focus on what it
could mean to imagine rural space with black individuals at the center instead of
at the margins.
“A refuge from and response to the challenges of our current political moment, Afrofuturist
thought is experiencing a renaissance in popular media and black community spaces
around the world,” the two co-chairs say.
Black History Month events will be observed in collaboration with MLK DOD, UW African
American and Diaspora Studies, and the UW Black Student Alliance.
Other events are scheduled throughout the week but have not yet been finalized. For
a full description of MLK DOD events, visit the website at www.uwyo.edu/mlkdod.
Among the highlights of MLK DOD are:
-- Sunday, Feb. 2, 3 p.m., “Really,” presented by Relative Theatrics; panel discussion
to follow presentation, Gryphon Theatre, 710 E. Garfield St.
-- Monday, Feb. 3, 6 p.m., annual MLK DOD Community Supper and Willena Stanford Diversity
Award presentation, Wyoming Union.
-- Tuesday, Feb. 4, noon, Ellbogen Center for Teaching and Learning book discussion:
“Kindred” by Octavia Butler, Coe Library, Room 123.
-- Tuesday, Feb. 4, 6 p.m., Residence Life and Dining Services’ “Dialogue and Dine,”
followed by screening of “White People” documentary, Wyoming Union Shoshone Room.
-- Tuesday, Feb. 4, 7 p.m., UW Art Museum’s panel discussion, “Stealing Culture: The
Intersection of Criminal Law and Museum Studies,” Centennial Complex.
-- Wednesday, Feb. 5, 5-7 p.m., community “Wyoming Art Party,” Laramie Plains Civic
Center, 710 E. Garfield St.
-- Wednesday, Feb. 5, 7:30 p.m., “Really,” presented by Relative Theatrics; panel
discussion to follow presentation, Gryphon Theatre, 710 E. Garfield St.
-- Thursday, Feb. 6, 12:15 p.m. “Get Real Teach-In: Trauma Informed Conversations
about Race and Identity,” Coe Library, Room 506.
-- Thursday, Feb. 6, 7 p.m., Mark Willis keynote speaker, Wyoming Union Ballroom.
-- Thursday, Feb. 6, 8 p.m., StudioWYO performance featuring Keenan The First, Wyoming
Union Gardens.
-- Friday, Feb. 7, 8:30 a.m.-2 p.m., UW African American and Diaspora Studies Black
History Conference.
-- Friday, Feb. 7, 6 p.m., “Black Panther” film screening, Wyoming Union Family Room.
-- Friday, Feb. 7, 9 p.m., “Us” film screening, Wyoming Union Family Room.
