BY JOAN KIM

In print | Published January 24, 2008

Monday, Jan. 21 was the beginning of a three-day observance of Martin Luther King Jr. Day. Although the college continued to hold classes, many students celebrated the life and legacy of Reverend Martin Luther King Jr. by attending scheduled events such as the Holiday Breakfast held on the first day of classes, a lunch presentation including a performance and lecture by Dean of Multicultural Affairs Darryl Smaw and a showing of the PBS film “In Remembrance of Martin.” The film featured Coretta Scott King, Jimmy Carte, and Jesse Jackson.

The events continued with a student panel on reflections on this influential figure in history and ended with a keynote address featuring Lang Visiting Professor of Issues for Social Change George Lakey.

Smaw opened the student panel with King’s own words: “What is needed is a realization that power without love is reckless and abusive, and love without power is sentimental and anemic. Power at its best is love implementing the demands of justice, and justice at its best is power correcting everything that stands against love.” The same themes were woven into the reflections of the students on the panel. The panel was moderated by Matt Armstead ‘09 and included five student panelist, Romane Paul ’10, Sarah Apt ’10, Markus Schlotterbeck ’10, Keith Benjamin ’09 and Marissa Davis ’08, who all eloquently provided insight and personal experience. "I appreciated how each person spoke about a different aspect of Martin Luther King Jr.’s legacy," Schlotterbeck said. The diversity of the panel and the audience, including both students and faculty, combined with the universality of the message, was inspiring.

Paul started the discussion with references to Hurricane Katrina and the Jena 6. He emphasized the three important challenges of maintaining unity, wrapping oneself around a central issue, and taking action to create change. Apt mentioned the significance of applying King’s message to the immigration issues today. She used King’s point that “true justice can’t be achieved until justice can be experienced by everyone” to support her statement.

Schlotterbeck shared a personal experience about Somalian immigrants entering the small towns of Lewiston and Auburn, Maine. He said that seeing members of the community rally in support of diversity showed him “Martin Luther King Jr.’s dream and what it looks like today.” Benjamin began with a captivating story about his trip to Ghana over winter break. He quoted King “I cannot sit idly by in Atlanta and not be concerned about what happens in Birmingham. Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.” Benjamin expanded this idea and paralleled the conditions in Birmingham in the 1960s with the issues in Chester, PA and in Darfur today to show the continuing relevance of King’s statement. He stressed the value of finding one’s own dream. Davis also talked about personal experiences and the responses of the government to events like Hurricane Katrina and Jena 6. She said that anyone could make a difference. “Change is change, no matter how small or great,” Davis said.

When the panel was opened for discussion, a variety of questions came up. One student expressed feelings of being overwhelmed by unfortunate events that occur despite protests and rallies. The panelists and audience also recognized that racism was not displayed in the same ways in the 1960s as it is now and responses to acts of discrimination can vary from the protests of the 1960s.

“Listening to King speak, it was clear that he was brilliant and he had a gift for inspiring people,” said Rachel Baumann ‘11, who attended the PBS film showing of “In Remembrance of Martin.” This was a sentiment that was echoed by many students as the three days of events helped to remind students of King’s message and actions that still resonate with people today.

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