Premiere of New Film on November 1961 Martin Luther King Jr. Visit to Mankato set for Jan. 20 at Minnesota State Mankato
The Kessel Peace Institute at Minnesota State University, Mankato will hold the premiere screening of “MLK 11.12.61,” a film about a 1961 visit to Mankato by Martin Luther King Jr. and how it reverberates today, at 6 p.m. on Martin Luther King Jr. Day (Monday, Jan. 20).
A promotional video of the film is available at: https://vimeo.com/1044814867
The film, free and open to the public, will be shown in the University’s Ostrander Auditorium, located in Centennial Student Union. Free parking is available in the visitors pay lot (lot 4) across from Centennial Student Union.
After the 50-minute film showing, there will be a 30-minute panel discussion with individuals featured in the film followed by a 30-minute presentation of the Greater Mankato Diversity Council’s Pathfinder awards.
King visited Mankato on Nov. 12, 1961, and gave two sermons at Centenary Methodist Church and a speech at Mankato High School (in the building that now houses Mankato West High School).
“MLK 11.12.61” is a newly edited film about the impact of King’s visit that combines footage and interviews from documentaries produced in 2022 and 2024. Those interviewed in the film include Minnesota State Mankato faculty members and administrators, community leaders and local educators.
“The movie uses archival recordings, historical research and interviews to tell the story of this impactful moment,” said Jameel Haque, director of the Kessel Peace Institute and professor in Minnesota State Mankato’s Department of History. “The film moves beyond the historical context to discuss our current struggle with systematic racism in Mankato and Minnesota. History, the movie asserts, is how we use the past to show who we are in the present and where we are going in the future.”
“MLK 11.12.61” and the 2022 and 2024 documentaries were produced through cooperation between the Kessel Peace Institute and True Façade Pictures in Mankato.
For more information on the film, please contact Jameel Haque by email at jameel.haque@mnsu.edu or by phone at 507-389-5315.
