Legal scholar, civil rights activist and Cornell alumna Kimberlé Crenshaw ’81 delivered the 2024 Martin Luther King Jr. Commemorative Lecture on Feb. 19, speaking to around 400 attendees in Sage Chapel about democracy and freedom of expression.
Crenshaw, who is also a professor of law at Columbia University and the University of California, Los Angeles, is widely known for coining the terms “intersectionality” and “critical race theory.” In the lecture, entitled “The Urgency for Intersectional Justice,” Crenshaw specifically drew parallels between racial injustices that MLK combatted and the current efforts of lawmakers and parents’ rights groups to prevent the teaching of Crenshaw’s research. The lecture was also in celebration of the 50th anniversary of the Gender Equity Resource Center, formerly the Cornell’s Women’s Resource Center.
Crenshaw connected the lecture to Cornell’s Freedom of Expression theme for the 2023-2024 academic year, quoting Justice Benjamin Cardozo — just as Cornell President Martha Pollack did in her Aug. 24 welcome message — regarding the importance of free expression.
“Free expression is important because it ‘is the matrix, the indispensable condition of nearly every other form of freedom,’” Crenshaw said. “Allow me to say ‘amen’ to that.”
In a more somber tone, Crenshaw went on to lament the current state of freedom of expression on and off campus. Many members of the audience murmured and nodded along with Crenshaw’s words.
“As symbolically meaningful as this invitation is to me, I find myself distraught, disappointed and disillusioned,” Crenshaw said. “The mounting challenges we face in protecting Cornell’s legacy and the many failures to transform these rituals and gestures into vigorous defense of free thinking about anti-racism, about social justice and academic freedom, I feel at times are almost too much to bear.”
Freedom of expression at Cornell has been tested during the year of its celebration, especially in the wake of protests in response to the ongoing Israel-Hamas war. Students, faculty and alumni have expressed concern over the University’s interim expressive activity policy, questioning its implications for freedom of assembly and noting selective enforcement of the rules.
Crenshaw also shared a personal anecdote about finding her voice in the face of loss as a third-grade girl coping with the death of MLK. This anecdote was one of three excerpts she read from her memoir she is currently writing, entitled “Notes From a Backtalker.”
“‘By this time, my insides were spewing molten lava. It was simply unbearable that [MLK] could be taken like this so suddenly, so permanently. But how could we allow ourselves to sit in silence in the face of it?’” Crenshaw read. “‘I heard words coming out of my mouth that were not mine. Words extorting everyone not to let [MLK’s] death be the end of our freedom struggle.’”
Crenshaw also discussed the 1969 Willard Straight Hall takeover, a 36-hour occupation of the Cornell student union by members of the Afro-American Society in response to several racially-motivated threats and assaults on Black students. The takeover left campus with decades-long social and cultural shifts, including the establishment of the Africana Studies and Research Center. Crenshaw commended former Cornell President James Perkins for his handling of the protests and ensuing events.
“A courageous University president, James Perkins sought to resolve the tension without recrimination, without repression and without bloodshed,” Crenshaw said. “President Perkins took a stand that secured Cornell’s unique imprints not only on Africana Studies and university life, but on the production of new knowledge and on the insurances of democracy in this country.”
Prior to the commemoration lecture, Crenshaw was invited to speak on “All Things Equal” — a radio show produced weekly by Cornell and the Cayuga Radio Group — about how recent book bans suppress the advancement of justice.
“We’ve been very concerned about book bans. We’ve been monitoring the suppression of knowledge and ideas and storytelling that uplifts questions about inclusion and diversity and racial and other forms of injustice,” Crenshaw said on the radio show. “When our stories are erased, then our ability to be full members of this society and fight for its betterment is also compromised.”
Anya English ’25, the outreach coordinator at the Gender Equity Resource Center, and Dean of Students Marla Love introduced the MLK Commemoration for Crenshaw, commenting on the professor’s impact on them and providing context for the lecture. Love explained that speakers were selected for how they exemplify the values of King’s legacy. Past speakers include journalists, religious leaders, scholars and other leaders in academia.
“These speakers have highlighted the continuity between past and present, providing a critical examination of King’s work and its relevance to today’s struggles for justice,” Love said. “Cornell University has a special connection to Dr. King, who visited campus and spoke from the Sage Chapel pulpit in November of 1960.”
In her introduction to the lecture, English expressed the influence that the idea of intersectionality has had on her during her time at Cornell.
“It was not until I learned Kimberlé Crenshaw’s framework of intersectionality that I finally discovered the language to articulate my reality,” English said. “For me, the framework was everything — it gave truth, reason and materiality to my lived experiences.”
Olivia Holloway ’25 is a Sun contributor and can be reached at [email protected].