Ron Stallworth, a black detective who infiltrated the Colorado Springs Ku Klux Klan in 1978, will be featured as this year’s Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Legacy Convocation keynote speaker.

Stallworth will discuss his months-long investigation 7 p.m. Thursday in the Sun Room of the Memorial Union.

“The Committee on Lectures invited Mr. Stallworth to speak here so students could hear his story about infiltrating a white supremacist group as a black man and better understand that white supremacist views are driven by fear and ignorance,” said Amanda Knief, director of the lectures program.

Stallworth was the first black police officer in Colorado Springs, Colorado. In 1978, Stallworth responded to the recruitment of the KKK and began to take down the group from the inside, posing as a white man with the help of a white fellow officer who stood in for Stallworth in person.

His book, “Black Klansman: A Memoir” is the basis for the new movie “BlacKkKlansman” which is currently nominated for four Golden Globe Awards and six Oscars.

“While the events Mr. Stallworth will recount took place several decades ago, belief in white supremacy is an ongoing and even growing scourge in this country, in this state. The best way to fight such belief is with communication and education. Mr. Stallworth will provide both,” Knief said.