MILLS PRESENTS DAUGHTERS OF THE DREAM: A CONVERSATION WITH YOLANDA KING AND SUSANNAH HESCHEL 

Oakland, CA - Mills College will present “Daughters of the Dream: A Conversation with Yolanda King and Susannah Heschel” on Monday, April 10, 2006. The event will take place from 7–8:30 pm in the Mills Concert Hall, 5000 MacArthur Blvd., Oakland, CA 94613.

The eldest daughter of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Coretta Scott King, Yolanda King joins Susannah Heschel, daughter of Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel to discuss their fathers' legacies and contributions to the Civil Rights Movement.

This dynamic conversation about the struggle for equal rights and justice will challenge attendees to use the lessons of the Civil Rights Movement in pursuing their goals and achieving dreams of equality.

Heschel will discuss her father's engagement with Dr. King and their legacy within the Jewish context. She will also talk about the impact of Heschel's presence with Dr. King as they marched arm-in-arm in Selma in the 1960s.

Yolanda King is dedicated to encouraging personal growth and positive social change through acting, producing, speaking and teaching. She is the founder of Higher Ground Productions, an organization committed to teaching people to celebrate diversity and embrace unity. 

King was named one of the Outstanding Young Women of America.  She is a member of the Board of Directors of the Martin Luther King, Jr. Center for Nonviolent Social Change, Inc. and was founding Director of the King Center’s Cultural Affairs Program.

Susannah Heschel holds the Eli Black Chair in Jewish Studies in the Department of Religion at Dartmouth College. She has served on the Academic Advisory Committee of the Research Center of the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum since 1999, and has been a commentator on the Jim Lehrer News Hour, as well as a contributor to The Nation, Dissent, Commentary, and Tikkun magazines.

One of the country’s most outspoken Jewish leaders on Civil Rights during his time, Abraham Joshua Heschel was a rabbi and professor of theology at the Jewish Theological Seminary of America.

”Daughters of the Dream” is funded by the James Irvine Foundation. Event co-sponsors also include the Berkeley Richmond Jewish Community Center, the Osher Marin Jewish Community Center and these Mills College departments and organizations: Alumnae of Color, the Women's Leadership Institute, the Black Women's Collective, and the Jewish Students Association. 

This event is part of the Kol Isha Event series, which has been funded by the following:

Organizations

* Koret Foundation Funds
* The Jewish Community Foundation and the Jewish Community Federation of the Greater East Bay - Fund for Jewish Learning & Culture
* The James Irvine Foundation
* Department of Women's Studies, Mills College
* Mills College

Individuals

* Emily L. Blanck and Daniel G. Weiss
* Eva Lokey
* Alan and Susan Rothenberg
* Morton and Amy Rothschild Friedkin
* Ilene Weinreb

Mills College is a nationally renowned, independent liberal arts college offering innovative degree programs for undergraduate women, and graduate degree and certificate programs for women and men. Consistently ranked among the top 75 liberal arts colleges in the nation by U.S. News & World Report, Mills is also recognized as one of the country’s 20 most diverse liberal arts colleges. The Princeton Review selected Mills as one of 11 colleges for first-time inclusion in its Best 361 Colleges in 2005. Nestled in the foothills of Oakland, California on 135 lush acres, Mills provides a dynamic liberal arts education fostering women’s leadership, social responsibility, and creativity.

PRESS CONTACT:
Deborah Dallinger
Communications Consultant
925.788.9131