MLK Keynote Address by Myisha Cherry

What Do We Do with All This Fear?

Lessons from Martin Luther King Jr. on Fear and Courage

There is a lot to fear these days: economic uncertainty, raging wars, political turmoil,and social upheaval are widespread. In this sense, our era isn’t so different fromMartin Luther King, Jr.’s time—an age he described as one of “catastrophic changeand calamitous uncertainty,” marked by people overwhelmed by “depression andbewilderment of crippling fear, which like a nagging hound of hell, pursues our everyfootstep.” Yet King didn’t tell them to ignore their fear. He offered solutions—waysto face and harness it. His lessons on fear remain ever relevant.In this talk, drawing on the life and work of Martin Luther King Jr., as well ascontemporary philosophy and psychology, Myisha Cherry will explore ways to harnessour fears so that we can survive and thrive in difficult times, instead of beingconsumed or overwhelmed by them.

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Host or Publisher Martin Luther King Jr Planning Committee