Keith A. Mayes is a professor of African-American history at the University of Minnesota. He studies the significance and appeal of black holidays, including Kwanzaa.

Ruha Benjamin is an associate professor in the department of African-American studies at Princeton University. She’s spoken and written about the importance of equity and disability justice in the gene editing debate. Benjamin is the author of People’s Science: Bodies and Rights on the Stem Cell Frontier.

Who carries King’s theological banner today? How does his theology apply to contemporary issues?

Jonathan Judaken is a professor of history at Rhodes College in Memphis, Tenn. He is an expert on different forms of racism, especially anti-Jewish and anti-black racism.

Shaun King is a former church pastor, activist and journalist who focuses on social justice and racial justice issues. He is currently a writer-in-residence at Harvard University’s Fair Punishment Project. In 2018, he was the keynote speaker at Washington State University’s Martin Luther King Jr. Day celebration. Contact via his agent, Josh Katz.

The Rev. William J. Barber II is pastor of Greenleaf Christian Church in Goldsboro, N.C., and president of Repairers of the Breach, a national ministry for civil rights and social justice. In 2013, Barber began a campaign on behalf of the poor that instigated “Moral Mondays” — acts of civil disobedience and mindfulness designed to […]

Taylor Branch is the author of the multivolume series America in the King Years, which covers 1954 to 1968. Branch is an expert on every aspect of Martin Luther King Jr.’s life and the broader civil rights movement. He is currently working with David Simon on developing a television series based on his King books. Contact […]

Zakaria Odeh is the director of the Civic Coalition for Palestinian Rights in Jerusalem, an NGO dedicated to Palestinian human rights. He has warned that the relocation of the U.S. Embassy to Jerusalem will endanger future peace negotiations.

Erik Nielson is an associate professor of liberal arts at the University of Richmond in Richmond, Va. He is co-editor of The Hip Hop and Obama Reader , and beginning in spring 2018 he and hip-hop artist Mad Skillz will co-teach a class on hip-hop and politics. Nielson blogs about hip-hop and the broader culture here.