Every year, the University of Richmond commemorates the legacy of the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. The theme of this year’s commemoration is a question that we pose to the whole campus:
What would MLK want from us today?
Please take a moment to post your thoughts and reflections on how to answer that question as individuals, as a University, and beyond. And we encourage you to respond to one another as the number of posts grows.
The context of this year’s commemoration is remarkable. Forty years after the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and the day before the United States inaugurates Barack Obama as the nation’s first African American president, Fourth Circuit Court Judge Roger L. Gregory will discuss the impact of King’s legacy in Cannon Memorial Chapel at the University of Richmond, Jan. 19 at 2 p.m. And a number of other exciting events are slated for the previous week and after.
We look forward to your thoughts and to your participation in the various events.
The Office of Common Ground and
The 2009 MLK Day Coordinating Committee
This is a remarkable time in our nation’s history and the commemoration of this year’s Martin Luther King Day is very reflective for me. I’m dating myself, but I do remember watching the breaking news on the day that MLK was assassinated. In my very young mind I was trying to grasp an understanding of why anyone would want to eradicate a man dedicated to advancing the rights of not only African Americans but of all people that struggled in the fight for equality and justice.
What would MLK want from us? I think he would want us to continue to work towards his dream of equality for all people regardless of skin color, gender, sexual orientation, nationality, religion, etc. While our nation and our society has come a long way since the beginnings of the Civil Rights Movement there will always exist bias, racism, xenophobia, religious bigotry, etc.. The fact that our nation’s first African American president will be sworn in office the day after MLK Day can’t lull us into a false sense of complacency that the day of full equality for all Americans has arrived. I think MLK would want us to remember that his dream isn’t an event or an end result but a continual process of transformation of our society.
For myself, I think he would want me to be self-reflective in how I think, act, and treat others. Not to just be tolerant of those who are different from myself but to appreciate and value the differences and uniqueness of people who are unlike me.
Glyn, you pose a thoughtful question when you ask what would Dr. King want from us today. Prior to teaching in a public school in Harlem, I answered that question in broad, sweeping terms, saying something about “moving forward…towards equality… peacefully.” I spoke about his ideas but did not act upon them. MLK Day was my day off.
But my sixth grade students– all of whom were African American– at Frederick Douglass Academy II in Harlem taught me that MLK Day was a day for action based on Dr. King’s ideas. I was struck by the degree to which service in the community was the only thing to be done that day, according to my kids. I will carry that lesson with me forever.
I have learned that Dr. King wants us to be civically-minded and civically engaged and responsible for our personal actions at all times, in all places; that is what he would ask of me, of us, today.
Martin Luther King, Jr. was one of the greatest visionaries of the twentieth century. He devoted his life to challenging the brutal realities of discrimination in America because he dreamed for an end to racism. The injustices he addressed are still relevant to civil rights issues we face as a nation today; this is why we must continue his legacy. Dr. King would have been proud of Barack Obama, who embodies a full visualization of his dreams, but there is still more progress to be made. I, as an African American am extremely proud of his election to the nation’s highest office. As a country we elected someone based on their merits not skin color. This has increased my sense of optimism that most Americans are open to moving in a more positive direction with race relations. We have reached a significant milestone we must not take for granted. We honor Dr. King, who forty years ago sacrificed his life to achieve racial equality for all Americans.