Contact: Allison Matthews

STARKVILLE, Miss.—District 16 State Sen. Angela Turner Ford will serve as keynote speaker for Mississippi State’s annual Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Unity Day virtual celebration and Day of Service on Monday [Jan. 17].

One of the university’s largest annual special events, this year’s program will continue virtually online and broadcast on MSTV in observance of COVID-19 safety protocols. The event will be broadcast at 8 a.m. on MSTV and livestreamed at www.mstv.msstate.edu, in addition to being made available on the MSU website. It will re-air on MSTV throughout the day with showings at 8 a.m., 11 a.m., 2 p.m., 5 p.m. and 7 p.m. MSTV is Mississippi State’s high-definition television channel. Operated by the University Television Center, the channel is available to MaxxSouth Broadband subscribers in the Golden Triangle and those with C Spire Fiber TV throughout the state on Channel 80.

Turner Ford is a West Point native who has served since 2013 representing Mississippi’s 16th District, which includes portions of Oktibbeha, Lowndes, Clay and Noxubee counties. She received a bachelor’s degree in biology from Hampton University in Virginia and a certificate in medical technology from the University of Alabama at Birmingham. A graduate of the University of Mississippi School of Law, she is a member of the Mississippi Bar Association, Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc., and Trinity African Methodist Episcopal Church. The former prosecuting attorney for the City of West Point and Clay County, Turner Ford is chair of the Mississippi Legislative Black Caucus, and her senate committee service includes the Public Property; Accountability, Efficiency and Transparency; Appropriations; Judiciary A; Judiciary B; Medicaid; Veterans and Military Affairs; Municipalities; and Technology committees. She practices law in West Point and is the attorney for the Clay County Board of Supervisors. She is married to Robert Ford Sr. and has three children, Kennedy and twins Joshua and Jalen.

Monday’s event also will feature a performance from the MSU Black Voices Gospel Choir and remarks from MSU President Mark E. Keenum. Anthony Neal, associate professor of philosophy, will serve as the emcee, and MSU’s Maroon Volunteer Center will facilitate service opportunities at sites across Starkville throughout Monday. MSU’s annual Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Unity Day virtual celebration and Day of Service is sponsored by the Office of the President and the university’s Division of Access, Diversity and Inclusion.

MSU is Mississippi’s leading university, available online at www.msstate.edu.