News

Wake up and step up
Remembering Martin Luther King Jr. and the message
Miko Calivo
Interim Editor-in-Chief

Students and faculty of Shoreline Community College (SCC) celebrated the life and legacy of Martin Luther King Jr. on January 19.

A full day celebration was held in the Pagoda Union Builindg (PUB) and featured keynote speakers King County Councilmember Larry Gossett and King County Executive Ron Sims, as well as a Rosa Parks bus reenactment, led by Dr. Ernest Johnson.

“We remember the life and legacy of a man who brought hope and healing,” Black Student Union (BSU) and African Student Club (ASC) Co-President Sintayehu Tekie said at the start the day.

This year’s theme for the celebration is to wake up and step up. On the poster for the event, it reads, “In the long run, we only hit what we aim at.

” After SCC Interim President Lee Lambert and Boart of Trustees Chair Jeffrey Lewis spoke, Tekie, who served as host of the celebration, introduced gospel singer Venee Eskridge. Eskridge performed the Black National Anthem, a song entitled “Lift Every Voice and Sing.” Her soulful voice resonated in the PUB and audience members joined in to sing the tune.

“Be proud of who you are,” Eskridge said. “King’s message is about uniting everyone around the world.”

The first keynote address, from Gossett, covered racial inequality and some of the things King County is facing today.

Gosset made mention that on May 18, 2005, King County was officially renamed to Martin Luther King County, paying tribute to the great man and his legacy.

According to Gossett, work to change the King County logo is in the process to replace the crown with an image of King.

“What I have found is that [King] is honored universally. He was an influential man of peace,” Gossett said. Beyond racial equality, Gossett re

minded the audience that King was a strong supporter of economic equality. “[King] was building a poor people’s campaign. He believed that we have the capacity to end poverty in America,” Gossett said.

Accoding to Gossett, King was also vocal about the Vietnam war when he spoke at the Riverside Church in New York on April 4, 1967, exactly one year before he was assassinated. “I cannot remain silent any longer. It is immoral. It is wrong,” King said in his speech at the church.

According to Gossett, King was a strong believer in non-violent methods to solve conflict.

“King inspiried and motivated people through his example to change themselves and make the world a better place to live,” Gossett said.

“The best way to pay tribute to [King] is to rethink your values and see how they support being tolerant toward others, regardless of what they do, say or who they are,” Gossett said.

After a short break between classes, the stage was set for members of the BSU and ASC to reenact Parks’s history making day when she refused to give up her seat on a public bus. In the style of the theatre of the oppressed, the actors performed the skit in its entirety and then Johnson led a discussion with the audience.

“What did you notice in the skit?” Johnson asked the audience. Some of the replies included, racism, injustice, courage, and fear. Johnson then explained to the audience that the skit would be performed again but this time, the audience could intervene and replace an actor to make the event go a different way. In various scenarios, audience members created a different story than the one that is famous.

Professor Claire Joly discussed racial segregation in Washington, saying that “there was a lot of segregation all over the United States.

According to Joly, various areas of western Washington had restricted covenants that prevented black people from owning, renting, or simply living in the area.

Joly pointed out that in King’s famous speech, after mentioning all the reasons to be discouraged that King first says, “I still have a dream.” While King does say, “I have a dream in all following references, Joly says it’s important to note that the real message was that King still had a dream.

According to Joly, over 1000 people marched in Washington on the same day that the march on Washington, D.C. occurred.

“The most important event worth mentioning his the day [King] was assassinated,” Joly said. “His death was a beginning. King’s death promoted change.” According to Joly, following King’s death, Seattle unanimously passed a measure to declare racial segregation illegal.

“If [this legislation] hadn’t happened, we don’t know how long it would’ve taken,” Joly said.

“[King] had a heart full of grace and a soul generated by love,” King County Executive Ron Sims said to begin his contributions to the celebration. Sims, while remembering King’s message, spoke about current items that need to be addressed in Washington.

According to Sims, sexual discrimination is the next stepping stone for civil rights. Sims said the civil rights are about everything.

“It’s about equal treatment for everything under the law,” Sims said. “It is a change that is long overdue.”

“We can’t talk about [King] and hold onto past prejudices,” Sims said. He then went on to speak about the gift of life. He said that justice has not fully been realized and that means that the job is not done.

“We get this gift of life that is meant to be enjoyed in all of its fullness,” Sims said.

Throughout the day, testimonials were spoken by various students to help remind and enfore the message of King.