Esteemed civil rights attorney and Florida State University alumnus Ben Crump of Tallahassee will visit his alma mater as a speaker during FSU’s Martin Luther King Jr. Celebration Week.
While the week will be honoring King’s life and achievements from Monday, Jan. 16, through Friday, Jan. 20, Crump is scheduled to make an appearance during the university’s Golden Torch Lecture Series event on Tuesday. at 8 pm in the Ruby Diamond Concert Hall on campus, after MLK Day.
“Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. dedicated his life to improving the lives of others, and we celebrate his legacy each year with a week of activities designed to encourage future generations to not only learn more about Dr. King, but also about their ideals and goals,” said Sierra Turner, program director at the Center for Leadership and Social Change, in a prepared statement. Turner is also one of the organizers of MLK Week.
As an FSU graduate who earned a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice and a juris doctorate from the university, Crump became the founder and president of the Tallahassee-based national law firm Ben Crump Law in 2017. The new establishment sprang up several years following his role as a partner at the personal injury firm Parks & Crump co-founded with attorney Daryl Parks.
Crump is also known for representing families in nationally recognized civil rights cases of black victims including Trayvon Martin, Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, and George Floyd while continuing to advocate for social justice.
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Aside from the legal world in which Crump occupies a significant amount of space, a Netflix documentary called “Civil: Ben Crump” followed a year in the life of “black America’s attorney general.” The film was released on June 16 of last year.
As FSU celebrates King throughout the week, the festivities began early Friday with a screening of the documentary at the Askew Student Life Cinema on campus.
More about the Netflix documentary:‘Amazed and Humbled’: Netflix Premieres Ben Crump Documentary ‘Civil’ on Juneteenth
A look at Crump’s civil rights efforts throughout his career along with King’s achievements throughout his life reveal Crump’s relevance to FSU’s MLK Week as the speaker of choice for Tuesday’s event.
Sponsored by the FSU Student Government Association and Club Downunder Union Productions, the Golden Torch Lecture Series provides university students with speakers who are working on the forefront of today’s political or social issues. Part of the series’ mission is to engage students in “dialogue that will positively benefit their overall academic, school, or humanitarian experience.”
The overall theme of MLK Celebration Week for this year is “It Starts With Us: Advocating for Access in Higher Education and Society.”
Other events throughout the week include Monday’s National Day of Service with EngageTLH, Thursday’s panel discussing first generation and impostor syndrome in the college environment, and Friday’s mingling among Black faculty, staff, and graduate students.
While Tuesday’s conference with Crump begins at 8 p.m., doors open at 7 p.m. The event is free and open to the public, but tickets are still required and can be reserved through the Office of College Fine Arts tickets.
Contact Tarah Jean at [email protected] or follow her on twitter @tarahjean_.
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