While corporations debate about recognizing the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday, set for Monday, the University and community will spend an entire week focusing on the civil rights leader and his message.
The commemoration events begin Saturday and continue through Jan. 19, and will promote historical awareness about King and the future of civil rights.
“The day is to be a celebration, but it is also a day of action,” said Kim Hutchinson, resource coordinator for the Black Student Union. “People need to come together as a community to recognize their differences.”
Hutchinson said people need to recognize past civil rights accomplishments and be aware of this generation’s efforts, led by organizations such as the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People and leaders such as the Rev. Jesse Jackson.
Event highlights will include a march and speeches by Eugene Mayor Jim Torrey, economist Dr. Julianne Malveaux and University professor Robin Morris-Collin.
The march will travel from Martin Luther King Jr. Park at East 10th Avenue and Grant Street to the Police and Fire Training Center at East Second Avenue and Chambers Street.
Several groups, such as the Eugene Human Rights Committee, will give awards to members of the community who have demonstrated an awareness of civil rights.
On campus, several events next week will address the history of the civil rights movement, offering students, faculty and the community a chance to focus on more than just King’s famous “I Have A Dream” speech, said John Shuford, the University’s MLK Celebration Planning Coordinator.

Shuford said this year’s theme, “A Dream to be Achieved: Building the ‘Beloved Community’ in the New Millennium,” is intended to create a link between the week’s events and Black History Month.
Assistant Dean of Students Mark Tracy will speak Tuesday about the civil rights movements that developed from the Montgomery Bus Boycott.
“For me personally, the weekend gives me a time to reflect on Dr. King and his visions and how I will live my life in 2001,” Tracy said.
Tracy said he hopes people will attend the events for educational purposes and to reflect on King’s impact on this country and the world.
Events commemorating King’s life and message date back to his death on April 4, 1968.
On Monday, April 8, 1968, members of the BSU solemnly marched from the EMU to McArthur Court carrying a mourning wreath. All classes after 1 p.m. that Friday were canceled, and about 5,000 people gathered on the EMU terrace and sang together as a flag was flown at half mast.
That same flag was flown for 30 days in memory of King.

Since the civil rights movement began, the fight to end racial prejudice in American society has progressed, but is far from over, Tracy said.
“True historical representation of race relations in this country is still missing,” Tracy said. “Minorities are denied opportunities to live in certain areas.”
Tracy said that even today, blacks continually face obstacles, such as a discriminatory job market.
Hutchinson said times have changed for the better, but racism still exists even in Eugene.
“When I go into a shopping mall, people still stare at me,” Hutchinson said. “Racism is still present every day of my life.”