In honor of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Swarthmore held a breakfast, a luncheon and a viewing of the PBS documentary “In Remembrance of Martin” on the federal holiday, all of which were open to the entire college community.
Allison Dorsey, an associate professor of history and coordinator of the Black Studies Program, kicked off the day’s celebrations with a lecture at the breakfast while Ben Berger, an assistant professor of political science, was the keynote speaker for the luncheon.
Both speakers acknowledged that celebrating the life and legacy of Dr. King this year is incomplete without due mention of President Barack Obama. Comparing America to Rip Van Winkle of Washington Irving’s eponymous short story, Dorsey said, “America slept for eight years … and awoke this past fall.”
Drawing on the themes of unity and solidarity found in Obama’s popular slogan, “Yes, We Can,” she said, “As Dr. King reminds us, remain awake for the revolution, our revolution.” The breakfast ended with Louis Armstrong’s “What A Wonderful World.”
In his lecture titled, “How Long? Not Long: Dr. King’s Legacy and Barack Obama’s Presidency,” Berger drew a similar parallel.
Reminding students that they do not live in a post-racial society, as some would have them believe, and that Obama’s presidency is not the grand finale of Dr. King’s dream, Berger stressed that “there is much work to be done, and not just by Obama.” He made this frighteningly clear when he played a clip of “Barack, the Magic Negro,” a parody based on “Puff, the Magic Dragon.”
Focusing on the differences between Obama and King, Berger made the case that Obama is a politician and community organizer, which allows him to partake in both moral and social engagement, while King was a moral activist.
The differences in the kind of engagement they represent place them in different spheres to carry out their work.
Still, while the comparisons between King and Obama are nothing new, it would be far from the truth to say the claims have no substantial grounds. It is certain that Obama sees the significance of Dr. King in his own success and pays tribute to him for it by drawing inspiration from a speech by King. In his victory speech, Obama said, “Their hands [are] on the arc of history and bend it once more toward the hope of a better day.”
King’s words were “How long? Not long, because the arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice.”
“In Remembrance of Martin” included memories of Dr. King from his wife, Coretta Scott King and Bishop Desmond Tutu among others.
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Discussion
Sable Mensah
Over 3 years ago
I went to two of the events mentioned here and I found them informative and insightful.
Also, I wonder if the events are meant to obscure the fact that the College does not observe the federal holiday of King’s birthday in the way that the larger majority of the government, schools, and businesses do — by taking a day off. I wonder: what does this action, of not remembering in a shared way, say about the College?
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