Randal Maurice Jelks is an awarding-winning professor of American studies and African and African American studies at the University of Kansas. Jelks will present this year’s Martin Luther King Jr. lecture, Dear Martin: How Do We Build Democracy in an Anti-democratic Age? On Wednesday, Feb. 8, at Elmhurst College.

Professor Jelks is the author of two award-winning books, African Americans in the Furniture City: The Struggle for Civil Rights in Grand Rapids (2006); and Benjamin Elijah Mays, Schoolmaster of the Movement: A Biography (2012), winner of the 2013 Lillian Smith Book Award and the 2013 Literary Award from the Black Caucus of the American Library Association. Co-editor of the journal American Studies, Professor Jelks holds courtesy appointments in history and religious studies, and also is an ordained member of the Presbyterian clergy. His research and writing interests are in the areas of American religious histories, African diaspora religions, and religion and American social movements.

Professor Jelks’ talk will begin at 4:00 p.m. on Wednesday, Feb. 8, in the Founders Lounge of the Frick Center (190 Prospect Ave., Elmhurst, www.elmhurst.edu/campusmap). Admission is $10 for the general public and free for Elmhurst College students, faculty, staff and alumni. Tickets are available by visiting www.elmhurst.edu/tix. For more information, call (630) 617-5186. Elmhurst College is a leading four-year college that seamlessly blends liberal learning and professional preparation to help students reach their full potential. Elmhurst offers more than 60 undergraduate majors, 17 graduate programs, degree-completion programs for adults and the Elmhurst Learning and Success Academy for young adults with developmental disabilities. Elmhurst College is one of the Top 10 Colleges in the Midwest, according to U.S. News & World Report; and U.S. News, Money and Forbes magazines consistently rank Elmhurst as one of the Midwest’s best values in higher education.