Four lectures planned for Edmonds Community College

Edmonds Community College brings activist Angela Davis (Jan. 17), a panel of experts on the issue of human trafficking (Jan. 31), Seattle NAACP vice president Gerald Hankerson (Feb. 6), and author Jamie Ford (Feb. 27), to campus as part of its lecture series. All events take place in the Black Box Theatre at Edmonds Community College, 20000 68th Ave.W, Lynnwood. Free and open to the public. For more information, call 425-640-1139 or go to www.blackboxedcc.org.

Here are the details about each event:

Angela Davis: In Celebration of Martin Luther King Jr. Day — 12:30 p.m., Thurs., Jan. 17, Black Box Theatre and 6:30 p.m. at the Lynnwood Convention Center, 3711 196th St. S.W., Lynnwood. Davis has lectured throughout the United States as well as in Europe, Africa, Asia, Australia, and South America. In recent years a persistent theme of her work has been the range of social problems associated with incarceration and the generalized criminalization of those communities that are most affected by poverty and racial discrimination.

Human Trafficking: Human Trafficking Awareness Month — 12:30 p.m., Thurs., Jan. 31, Black Box Theatre. Every year, thousands of men, women and children fall into the hands of traffickers, in their own countries and abroad. Human trafficking can occur in any industry, including agriculture, construction, domestic service (housekeeper, nanny), restaurants, salons, commercial sex work, massage parlors, and small businesses. Representatives from the Washington Anti-Trafficking Response Network and the Providence Intervention Center for Assault and Abuse will provide an overview of human trafficking from a local, national and global perspective.

Gerald Hankerson: In Honor of Black History Month — 12:30 p.m., Wed., Feb. 6, Black Box Theatre. At age 18, Gerald Hankerson was tried and convicted of accessory to a crime that resulted in a life sentence without parole. Hankerson was the alleged accomplice in a murder where others falsely implicated him, which resulted in his conviction and de facto death sentence. He was denied clemency in 2006, which caused many community and political leaders and grass-root organizations to form the “Coalition to Free Hankerson.” On April 9, 2009 at the age of 40, he was granted clemency and released from prison after serving 23 years. Currently he serves as VP of the NAACP in Seattle/King County, as well as an Executive Board Member of The Defender’s Association.

Jamie Ford: Edmonds CC Community Read Author — 12:30 p.m., Wed., Feb. 27, Black Box Theatre. Ford is the New York Times bestselling author of Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet, which was an IndieBound Next List selection, and a Borders Original Voices pick. He is the great grandson of Nevada mining pioneer Min Chung, who immigrated from Kaiping, China, to San Francisco in 1865, where he adopted the western name “Ford.”