Barber is national co-chairperson of the Poor People’s Campaign: A National Call for Moral Revival, a movement started by MLK half a century ago that aims to challenge problems such as systematic racism, poverty, the war economy and ecological devastation.

Todd said the event is in line with the 50th anniversary of the Poor People’s Campaign and that the campaign linked issues around racism and economic justice, so reflecting on it's anniversary and King's legacy is a good time to put a focus on our moral economy.

"One of the original prompts for this was that this year is the 50th anniversary of the poor people's campaign that Dr. King began organizing before he was assassinated and then came to fruition as a week-long protest on the national mall after Dr. King's death," Todd said.

Alicia Sun, a sophomore at Duke who supported Sanders’ presidential campaign, is excited to hear what Sanders has to say.

"I've been a Bernie supporter from the beginning, so this is really exciting for me to see him talk in person,” she said. “I'm hoping that seeing Bernie Sanders talk can provide some guidance for people like me who are kind of confused and discouraged by the current political climate."

Free tickets were made available to Duke students on Jan. 11 and then to the general public on Jan.12.

"We announced this event last week on Tuesday and it's gotten quite a strong reception so the tickets that were made available were snapped up in less than 10 minutes," Todd said.

The event coordinators are expecting more than a thousand people to show up, but the event can also be viewed from a livestream on the Duke Chapel’s website.

@David_Saff

state@dailytarheel.com