MCF is proud to present a Book Club event in honor of King: A Life, a revelatory portrait of Dr. King, blending newly declassified FBI files with vivid storytelling to reveal the complexities of King’s life and work. Moderated by Dr. Carmen Rojas, MCF president and CEO, the virtual premiere of this event features Pulitzer-winning biographer Jonathan Eig and Dr. Darrick Hamilton, professor of economics and urban policy at the New School.
Event Moderator
Dr. Carmen Rojas
President and CEO, Marguerite Casey Foundation
Dr. Carmen Rojas is the president and CEO of Marguerite Casey Foundation. Under her leadership, the foundation launched the prestigious Freedom Scholar award, committed to ensuring that a majority of MCF’s endowment is overseen by diverse managers, and since starting in 2020 granted more than $165M in funding to dozens of organizations doing the hard work of shifting power to those people who have long been excluded from having it. Prior to MCF, Dr. Rojas was the cofounder and CEO of the Workers Lab, an innovation lab that partners with workers to develop new ideas that help them succeed and flourish.
Featured Participants
Jonathan Eig
Pulitzer-winning biographer
Jonathan Eig is the Pulitzer Prize–winning author of King: A Life. He's the author of six books, four of them New York Times bestsellers. The New York Times hailed King as the "definitive" biography of Martin Luther King Jr. The book was awarded the New York Historical Society’s 2024 Barbara and David Zalaznick Book Prize, which is presented annually to the nation's best work of history or biography. King was also nominated for the National Book Award.
Dr. Darrick Hamilton
Professor of economics and urban policy at the New School
Darrick Hamilton is a university professor, Henry Cohen Professor of Economics and Urban Policy, and founding director of the Institute on Race, Power, and Political Economy at the New School. Considered one of the nation’s foremost public intellectuals, Professor Hamilton redefines how an economy should work, identifies powerful opportunities for investment in human capacity, and propels collaboration alongside field leaders to advance the realization of economic inclusion, social equity, and civic engagement for all people in the US and across the globe. One of the pioneers of identity group stratification, he has been profiled in the New York Times, Mother Jones, Bloomberg Business Week, and the Wall Street Journal. He has developed and collaborated on transformative policy proposals that have shifted billions of dollars into the hands of people, inspiring legislative proposals at the federal, state, and local levels, including baby bonds, guaranteed income, and a federal job guarantee.
