A University celebration recognizing the life and achievements of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.,one of the most well-known civil rights activists and an influential leader in the shaping of America’s history, will begin Tuesday.
Heading off the week-long campus festivities is a unity celebration and candlelight vigil in the Alumni Lounge of Gerlinger Hall Tuesday night.
The event will begin at 6 p.m. with dinner, followed by poetry readings, student and staff speeches and possibly a film clip of Dr. King, said Shareena Holloway, University student and program director for the Black Student Union.
“This event is very important to us,” Holloway said. “We are honoring people who made a difference and still impact us now,” such as Dr. King, who was the youngest male recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize and a Baptist minister.
Participants will walk to the candlelight vigil at the EMU, where students will have an opportunity to finish the powerful words once spoken on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, “I have a dream,” with their personal thanks to Dr. King.
“Racism is still going on now,” Holloway said. Dr. King “made such a huge impact for us,” which is why students and faculty should take the time to recognize and remember him, she said.
Students interested in reading at the event can sign up at the Black Student Union located in Suite 25 of the EMU. Candles will be provided for the vigil and the event will end at 8 p.m.
The week of remembrance will continue on Thursday evening with the showing of the 30-minute documentary film, “I Won’t Drown on that Levee and You Ain’t Gonna Break my Back.”
The film examines the failed evacuation of the Orleans Parish Prison during the wrath of Hurricane Katrina, where more than 600 inmates were left in chest high waters for four days, according to the Human Rights Watch Web site.
“Of all the nightmares during Hurricane Katrina, this must be one of the worst. Prisoners were abandoned in their cells without food or water for days as floodwaters rose toward the ceiling,” said Corinne Carey, a U.S. researcher for Human Rights Watch.
The Black Women of Achievement is sponsoring the film, and will hold a discussion following the event. The showing and discussion will be held from 6 to 8 p.m. in the Walnut Room of the EMU.
On Jan. 20, Angela Davis, civil activist and co-founder of the National Alliance Against Racism and Political Oppression, will speak on “Radical Frameworks for Social Justice,” in Columbia 150 from 1 to 3 p.m.
Davis, associated with the Black Panther Party in the ’60s and ’70s, is currently a professor at the University of California, Santa Cruz and speaker on the “prison-industrial complex.” Her speeches concern the unequal and unjustified imprisonment of women and minorities in the U.S.
“I’m hoping that we all get a sense of clearheadedness and inspiration,” said Steven Morozumi, program advisor for the ASUO Multicultural Center, which co-sponsors the event with the Black Student Union.
The final event in the campus celebration of Dr. King will recognize and award faculty and staff who exemplify the minister’s successes through their actions and achievements.
The event, sponsored by the Office of Institutional Equality and Diversity, will be held Jan. 24, from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. in the Alumni Lounge in Gerlinger Hall.
Former congressman Walter E. Fauntroy will be giving a lecture on Dr. King Monday, Jan. 15 at 5:30 p.m. at Northwest Christian College’s Morse Events Center.
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