Thursday, January 31, 2008
Students, faculty and University staff will gather tonight for the third consecutive year in remembrance of the civil rights work of Martin Luther King, Jr. “Walking the Dream ... Honoring the Legacy of Dr. Martin King, Jr.” will begin with a Luminary Walk, beginning in front of Strong Hall and concluding with a keynote presentation by Joseph Seabrooks, president of Blue River Community College in Kansas City, Mo., in Woodruff Auditorium at 7 p.m.
Precious Porras, program associate at the Multicultural Resource Center, said brief presentations about King’s civil rights work would be made at various stops along the route. Organizers expect as many as 100 people to participate in the event.
Porras said though the walk was intended to honor King’s legacy. It also emphasizes that equality is not yet a reality for many people.
“I think it’s about students remembering where we came from,” Porras said. “The civil rights movement wasn’t that long ago, and I think students take for granted the rights they have today.”
Members of the Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity will line the path from Strong Hall to the Kansas Union with luminary candles. The Inspirational Gospel Voices will also sing an assortment of hymns during the walk and perform the songs “I’ve been delivered” and “Awesome God” during the presentation at Woodruff Auditorium.
Ashley Coleman, Shawnee senior and Inspirational Gospel Voices president, said the event was one her group traditionally takes part in every year. She said King’s work made it possible for multicultural groups like the Inspirational Gospel Voices to exist only decades after segregation was a reality for many.
“Being a multicultural group and a diverse group of people, it’s important because Martin Luther King Jr. made it possible for us to be able to do something like this,” Coleman said. “So, to have an organization where we can have black, white, Mexican or whatever in one group doing something like this is not something we take for granted.”
pullquote
I think it’s about students remembering where we came from. The civil rights movement wasn’t that long ago, and I think students take for granted the rights they have today.
-Precious Porras, program associate at the Multicultural Resource Center
Coleman also said the gospel hymns the group would sing on the path would help participants reflect on King’s work while they took part in the luminary procession.
“Martin Luther King Jr. was a reverend, so religious background was definitely a part of his life,” she said. “Singing different gospel hymns and things like that actually gives people an opportunity to think about what he said while we walk.”
Seabrooks will speak after the procession arrives at the Kansas Union. He said it was a privilege to take part in such a significant event that honors the man that helped so many people make better lives for themselves and their families, including himself.
“It was an honor, and yet at the same time I was a little bit intimidated by such a tremendous responsibility,” Seabrooks said.
Like Porras, Seabrooks said the fight for racial and individual equality was far from over. He said people must continue to build on King’s vision to achieve true equality.
“I think it’s important to remember the privileges we all have in our society,” Seabrooks said. “But also be clear about where there is some serious work that still needs to be done.”
—Edited by Samuel Lamb
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