HomeMy WebLinkAbout2023-02-27 - Clayborne CarsonProclamation
HONORING CLAYBORNE CARSON
WHEREAS, Dr. Clayborne Carson is the Martin Luther King, Jr., Centennial Professor of History, emeritus,
Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies at Stanford University, has devoted his professional life to the study
of Martin Luther King, Jr., and the human rights movements inspired by Coretta and Martin King, Mohandas K.
Gandhi, and other visionaries; and
WHEREAS, Dr. Carson has lived in Palo Alto for many years and has been a professor at Stanford University for
more than 40 years, where he has taught U.S. History and African American History; and
WHEREAS, in 1963 at the age of 19, Dr. Carson met Stokely Carmichael at a national student conference where
Carmichael convinced him to attend the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom as a member of the Student
Nonviolent Coordinating Committee; and
WHEREAS, in 1964 Dr. Carson transferred to UCLA and became active in what he calls the "northern version of
the southern struggle" and changed his field of study from computer programming to American History, earning his
B.A. and M.A. and his Ph.D. writing his doctoral dissertation on Stokely Carmichael and SNCC; and
WHEREAS, Dr. Carson was involved in the 1960’s anti-Vietnam War protests which he has written about,
highlighting the importance of grassroots political activity within the African-American freedom struggle; and
WHEREAS, Dr. Carson is author of many books and whose award-winning first book, In Struggle: SNCC and the
Black Awakening of the 1960s published in 1981 continues as the definitive study of the courageous activists and
organizers who challenged strongholds of segregation; and
WHEREAS, in 1985 Mrs. Coretta Scott King invited Dr. Carson to direct a long-term project to edit and publish an
authoritative edition of her late husband's speeches, sermons, correspondence, publications, and unpublished writings
resulting in Dr. Carson’s published The Autobiography of Martin Luther King, Jr., a compilation of MLK papers.
Under Dr. Carson’s direction, the King Papers Project has produced seven volumes of The Papers of Martin Luther
King, Jr. and in 2005 after launching the online Liberation Curriculum for K-12 students, Dr. Carson founded the
Martin Luther King, Jr. Research and Education Institute to endow and expand the educational outreach of the King
Papers Project; and
WHEREAS, Dr. Carson is the foremost scholar of the life of Martin Luther King Jr., Dr. Carson says he has come
to the understanding that King was not a civil rights leader, but a prophet, whose vision was for all humanity; and
WHEREAS, in addition to publishing numerous books and scholarly articles, Carson has also been a senior advisor
senior advisor for the award-winning, public television series on the civil rights movement, Eyes on the Prize, and has
participated in the making of more than two dozen other documentaries, including Freedom on My Mind, which was
nominated for an Oscar in 1995, Freedom Riders, and I Am MLK Jr.
WHEREAS, after retiring as the King Institute’s Director, Dr. Carson has continued his online and multi-media
educational efforts by establishing The World House Project in 2020 to collaborate with other human rights advocates
to realize King's vision of a global community in which all people can "learn somehow to live with each other in peace”;
and in addition to his regular courses at Stanford, Dr. Carson teaches an online open enrollment course, American
Prophet: The Inner Life and Global Vision of Martin Luther King, Jr. and produces a podcast, The World House; and
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Lydia Kou
Mayor
WHEREAS, in addition to many years teaching at Stanford, Dr. Carson has taught at UCLA, the University of
California, Berkeley, American University, Emory University, Morehouse College, and L'école des hautes études en
sciences sociales in Paris and has lectured throughout the United States and in many other nations; and
WHEREAS, Dr. Carson is also a playwright whose musical play, "Passages of Martin Luther King," has been
performed in locations throughout the United States, China and Palestine; and
WHEREAS, Dr. Carson helped design the MLK Jr. National Memorial is Washington, D.C.; and
WHEREAS, Dr, Carson has received numerous awards and honors, a mere sampling includes: Andrew Mellon
fellowship; Frederick Jackson Turner Award of the organization of American Historians for In Struggle: SNCC and
the Black Awakening of the 1960s; Rosa Park Distinguished Citizen Award, Martin Luther King, Jr. Assoc. of Santa
Clara Valley; Honorary Doctorates from Morehouse College and Westminster; a Commendation Resolution by
California Legislative Black Caucus of the California State Assembly; Tikkun Award from the Network of Spiritual
Progressives; Community Leader Award from Peninsula Bay Chapter of The Links; Jamnalal Bajaj Foundation Award
for promoting Gandhian values outside India; and is an elected member of the Society of American Historians Center
for Advanced Study in Behavioral Sciences Fellowship; and
WHEREAS, while Dr. Carson enjoys personal time on a basketball court, he also supports Stanford athletics in
multiple capacities and serves as an Honorary Chair of the Palo Alto Museum,
NOW, THEREFORE, I, Lydia Kou, Mayor of the City of Palo Alto on behalf of the entire City Council do hereby
record and express sincere gratitude and appreciation to Dr. Clayborne Carson for his meritorious years of service
rendered and numerous contributions made during his many years of professional and personal dedication.
PRESENTED: February 27, 2023