Former Drew professor Dr. Kesha Moore delivers keynote address
January 2022 – Drew University honored the legacy of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. with an MLK Day of Service and keynote address.
Day of Service activities included assembling literacy kits for the United Way; donating clothing and toys and making friendship bracelets for Anafrom CLoK Academy; donating books for Morris County Correctional; and writing letters to and for Prisoners of Conscience with Amnesty International’s annual Write for Rights Campaign.
Students, faculty, and staff were able to participate in the Day of Service activities in person or virtually.
To round out the day, Dr. Kesha Moore delivered a keynote address, “From a System of Fear to a System of Care: What Prisons Teach Us about Love, Community, and Justice.”
Moore, a senior researcher and development specialist at The NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund’s Thurgood Marshall Institute and a former associate professor of sociology at Drew, educated the virtual audience on the culture of care and the culture of fear.
The culture of care entails recognizing the humanity of all people, versus a culture of fear which is often driven by irrational and embellished beliefs. “The culture of fear is insatiable,” said Moore.
With student participation, Moore chose excerpts from MLK’s Letters From Birmingham Jail, using the insights from his writings to move our beliefs from the current culture of fear and towards a culture of care, particularly to those incarcerated.
Moore challenged the audience filled with members of the Drew community to do something at a systemic structural level to make a difference. “Where can you go to positively infect our community with the truth about our inescapable network of mutuality, our common brotherhood and sisterhood, and our culture of care in the community?” she asked.
Moore’s interactive talk was followed by a Q&A session with Drew students.
For more photos of the Day of Service, head to our Instagram page. Photos were taken by Morgan Alley C’22.
