The community is invited to hear Portland scholar and activist Walidah Imarisha speak at Western Oregon University for their annual Martin Luther King Jr. commemorative dinner on the school’s campus in Monmouth on Wednesday, Jan. 17 at 6 p.m.

“We chose Walidah Imarisha because of her scholarship and background,” said Emmanuel Macias, educational advisor for the college’s student enrichment program. “Walidah brings insights and perspectives to issues facing communities most marginalized by systems of oppression. We look forward to learning and growing from her address.”

Imarisha is an educator, writer, public scholar and spoken-word artist. She has presented statewide as a public scholar with Oregon Humanities’ Conversation Project on topics such as Oregon’s Black history, alternatives to incarceration and the history of hip hop. Her nonfiction book Angels with Dirty Faces: Three Stories of Crime, Prison, and Redemption won a 2017 Oregon Book Award.

Tickets are $3 for students and $5 for general admission (including dinner) and can be purchased at the Werner University Center front desk or in disability services.