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"Finding My Voice" with Emerald Garner

Emerald Garner joins the MLK Library to have a moving discussion with Etan Thomas, and Martin Luther King, III about processing grief after tragedy and pushing for justice.

Emerald Garner, Etan Thomas, and Martin Luther King III will be live at the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Library's Auditorium to talk about Emerald's book, Finding My Voice. This conversation will be moderated by Kenneth Moton and be followed by a 10 minute Q&A.

The DC Public Library Foundation has donated 50 copies of Emerald's book Finding my Voice for the first 50 registered attendees.

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About the Book

In this unforgettable memoir, Emerald Garner recounts her father’s cruel and unjust murder, the immense pain that followed, the pressures of an exploitative media, and her difficult yet determined journey as an activist against police violence.

She begins with the morning of July 17, 2014—a rare day off from work, one she had hoped to enjoy with rest and family, that quickly turned her world inside out. What follows is a personal account of the suffering Emerald and her family endured: unsympathetic camera lenses, the stares and whispers of strangers, and the inability to mourn in private.

In addition to these vulnerable, personal essays, Finding My Voice includes conversations in which Emerald found inspiration, empathy, and community: with politicians, athletes, and activists like Brian Benjamin and Etan Thomas; with others surviving similarly unfathomable grief like Lora Dene King, Angelique Kearse, and Pamela Brooks; and with Emerald’s own family, Mrs. Esaw Garner and Eric Garner Jr. The book ends with a powerful call-to-action by author and daughter of Malcolm X, Ilyasah Shabazz.

As calls for radical transformation and accountability grow, Emerald Garner’s memoir is a story of family and community, and the strength it takes to survive, to stand, to speak.

About the Panelists

In her unforgettable memoir, Emerald Garner recounts her father’s cruel and unjust murder, the immense pain that followed, the pressures of an exploitative media, and her difficult yet determined journey as an activist against police violence. In addition to these vulnerable, personal essays, Finding My Voice includes conversations in which Emerald found inspiration, empathy, and community: with politicians, athletes, and activists like Brian Benjamin and Etan Thomas; with others surviving similarly unfathomable grief like Lora Dene King, Angelique Kearse, and Pamela Brooks; and with Emerald’s own family, Mrs. Esaw Garner and Eric Garner Jr. The book ends with a powerful call-to-action by author and daughter of Malcolm X, Ilyasah Shabazz. As calls for radical transformation and accountability grow, Emerald Garner’s memoir is a story of family and community, and the strength it takes to survive, to stand, to speak.

Etan Thomas, an eleven-year NBA veteran and lifelong advocate for social justice, weaves together his personal experiences with police violence and white supremacy with multiple interviews of family members of victims of police brutality like exonerated Central Park Five survivor Raymond Santana and Rodney King’s daughter Lora Dene King; as well as activist athletes and other public figures such as Steph Curry, Chuck D, Isiah Thomas, Sue Bird, Jake Tapper, Jemele Hill, Stan Van Gundy, Kyle Korver, Mark Cuban, Rick Strom, and many more.

Thomas speaks with retired police officers about their efforts to change policing, and white allies about their experiences with privilege and their ability to influence other white people. Thomas also examines the history of racism, white supremacy, and the prevalence of both in the current moment. He looks at the origins of white supremacy in the US, dating back to the country’s inception, and explores how it was interwoven into Christianity--interviewing leading voices both in and outside of the church. Finally, with prominent voices in the media and education, Thomas discusses the continued cultivation of these injustices in American society.

Police Brutality and White Supremacy demands accountability and justice for those responsible for and impacted by police violence and terror. It offers practical solutions to work against the promotion of white supremacy in law enforcement, Christianity, early education, and across the public sphere.

Featuring original interviews with: Steph Curry, Chuck D, Yamiche Alcindor, Isiah Thomas, Jemele Hill, Craig Hodges, Stan Van Gundy, Mark Cuban, Jake Tapper, Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf, Sue Bird, Kyle Korver, Rick Strom, Cenk Uygur, Tim Wise, Chris Broussard, Breanna Stewart, Rex Chapman, Stephen Jackson, Kori Mccoy, Lora Dene King, Chikesia Clemons, Raymond Santana, Alissa Findley, Amber and Ashley Carr, Michelle and Ashley Monterrosa, Chairman Fred Hampton Jr., Abiodun Oyewole, Marc Lamont Hill, Officer Carlton Berkley, Pastor John K. Jenkins Sr., Officer Joe Ested, Captain Sonia Pruitt, and Bishop Talbert Swan.

Martin Luther King III

With the past two years’ astounding display of social injustice, violence, and confusion around the pandemic, perhaps at no other time in recent history has our world needed the clear thinking and solutions-oriented voice of civil rights advocate and global humanitarian Martin Luther King III.

From speaking to thousands at the August 2020 March On Washington to his dozens of arrests during peaceful protests, Mr. King is shepherding the healing of our nation and the world. He is connecting the important lessons of the past with the critical needs of our future and motivating a new generation of authentic leaders, while empowering others to use their voices to bring about change as well. 

As the oldest son of the late Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Mrs. Coretta Scott King, Martin Luther King III is a thought leader on the world stage, a peace maker, and a negotiator on some of today’s most critical national and international platforms for social change. Amplifying the work of his father, Mr. King and his wife Arndrea have devoted their lives to promoting global human rights and eradicating racism, violence, and poverty, earning a reputation as a respected international statesman and one of the world’s most passionate advocates for the poor and oppressed.

Mr. King speaks on a variety of topics such as the importance of continuing the struggle for civil rights and taking a stand against adversity, emphasizing the importance of individual action in making his father’s dream a reality and challenging us all to do better.

More recently, Martin and Arndrea launched an effort to fund Black and Brown organizers across the country. The first round of funding went to 40 organizations whose missions are to mobilize voters in key states. By 2024, the Drum Major Coalition will invest $100 million in grassroots organizations from coast to coast. 

Arndrea Waters King has dedicated herself to public service as a passionate leader in the global fight against inequity, injustice, hate crimes, and all forms of pain. Throughout her life, Arndrea has consistently worked on behalf of those who have been marginalized by helping them find — and collectively use — their voices for change.

Arndrea is a graduate of Emory University in Atlanta. Soon after graduation she joined the Center for Democratic Renewal, an organization founded and headed by Dr. C.T. Vivian, a lieutenant of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. During her tenure, Arndrea organized the first National Conference on Hate Crimes and Hate Violence with over 100 national partners.

She played a key role in mobilizing the Georgia Hate Crimes Act and prepared major reports and publications, including the landmark “When Hate Comes to Town: Faith Based Edition.” Arndrea also helped organize marches and rallies that led to the building of a major multiracial collaboration known as the Southern Coalition Against Racism and Bigotry.

In 2006, Arndrea married Martin Luther King III. Together, they have championed several nonviolence and social change initiatives, designing programs to advance understanding and activism. Arndrea is a strong supporter of youth activism and believes in helping young people take a peaceful, effective stand for the world issues that concern them most.

Kenneth Moton is a veteran television journalist who brings nearly a decade of national broadcast experience to his role at Actum, including past assignments reporting from the White House and Capitol Hill.

Kenneth was previously an anchor and correspondent for ABC News covering national and international news stories for the news network since 2015. He reported for ABC’s top-rated programs, Good Morning America and World News Tonight, and also served as the co-anchor of the #1 overnight news shows, ABC’s World News Now and America This Morning.

Among the many news stories Kenneth has covered during his career are the 2015 Charleston church massacre, the 2016 presidential campaign and election, natural disasters including Hurricane Harvey, the Las Vegas shooting massacre, the January 6th attack on the Capitol, the Haitian migrant crisis in Del Rio, TX, trucker convoy protests in Ottawa, Canada, and the 2020 (2021) Summer Olympics in Tokyo, Japan. Prior to ABC, he spent more than a decade covering local news in Philadelphia, Orlando, Raleigh, NC, and Columbia, SC.

Kenneth is a South Carolina native and a proud graduate of the University of South Carolina.

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