Charles M. Blow, an op-ed columnist for The New York Times, will speak at Northwestern Jan. 25, the University announced in a December news release.

Blow will visit the Evanston and Chicago campuses as the keynote speaker for NU’s commemoration of Martin Luther King Jr., according to the release. The program for the Evanston campus will also feature music and performances from student groups.

In addition to writing columns for The Times — often focusing on social justice, racial equality and presidential politics — Blow also works as a CNN commentator, the release said. He has previously worked at The Detroit News and National Geographic Magazine, taught at Yale University and authored the memoir “Fire Shut Up in My Bones.”

“‘We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal,’ are words found in the Declaration of Independence and were also spoken by Martin Luther King Jr.,” Weinberg senior Kathleen Nganga, co-chair of the MLK Commemoration Committee, said in the release. “In the spirit of these words, we selected Charles Blow because of his commitment to social justice, journalism and truth finding.”

The University’s commemoration will begin Jan. 15 on Martin Luther King Jr. Day and programming will continue until Jan. 31, according to NU’s website.

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Twitter: @madsburk