Many know how Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. developed many of his ideas from the writings of Gandhi, but I only recently began to learn how the ideas of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. also went on to influence many others around the globe.

Cambodian human rights activist and Khmer Rouge survivor Theary Seng will be speaking this Thursday, Jan. 13, from 7-9 p.m., at the University of Michigan Museum of Art Helmut Stern Auditorium, “MLK Across The Globe: His Legacy In Advancing The Values Of Justice, Peace, And Reconciliation In Cambodia.”

Theary Seng is the founder and board president of the Cambodian Center for Justice & Reconciliation and the founding director of CIVICUS: Center for Cambodian Civic Education.

This program is sponsored as part on the University of Michigan 25th Annual MLK Symposium by the University of Michigan Center for Southeast Asian Studies, U of M Museum of Art, U of M Law School, the Cambodia Law Project, the President’s Advisory Board on Labor Standards and Human Rights, and the U of M School of Public Health.

University of Michigan Museum of Art is located at 525 S. State St. in Ann Arbor.

Frances Kai-Hwa Wang is a second-generation Chinese American from California who now divides her time between Ann Arbor and the Big Island of Hawaii. She is an editor of IMDiversity.com Asian American Village, lead multicultural contributor for AnnArbor.com and a contributor for New America Media's Ethnoblog. She is on the Advisory Board of American Citizens for Justice. She team-teaches "Asian Pacific American History and the Law" at University of Michigan and University of Michigan Dearborn. She is a popular speaker on Asian Pacific American and multicultural issues. Check out her website at franceskaihwawang.com, her blog at franceskaihwawang.blogspot.com, and she can be reached at fkwang888@gmail.com.