A diverse crowd of students, faculty and community members packed Dillard Auditorium Monday night, Jan. 15, for the Seventh Annual Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Celebration well before its scheduled 7 p.m. start time, so much so that an overflow room had to be arranged. Hundreds came to help make the yearly collaboration between Winston-Salem State University and Wake Forest University a success, and to commemorate the birthday, life and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
This year’s planning committee, co-chaired by Dale Williams from WSSU and Kendra Steward from WFU, and made up of members from both institutions, decided on the theme, “On Common Ground … Committed To The Dream,” a continuation from last year’s theme, “On Common Ground.”
To help elaborate upon this idea, they invited as the keynote speaker the inspiring Myrlie Evers-Williams, wife of civil rights activist and murder victim, Medgar Evers. Evers-Williams, a graduate of what is now known as Alcorn State University and a civil rights and political leader in her own right, recalled her early experiences as an activist in the volatile state of Mississippi, her fight for justice in her husband’s decades-long murder investigation, and shared her thoughts on current world events as a challenge to everyone in the audience.
“I have had so many people to say to me, ‘You’re living in the past, let it go.’ There is no way that I could let it go,” Evers-Williams said. “I still know the scent of racism, and when I smell it, the hair raises up on my back, and I say to myself, ‘It doesn’t matter how tired I am.'”
Evers-Williams was especially pleased to witness the long-lasting relationship between WSSU and WFU on issues of race and injustice. It is a relationship that dates back to 1960, when students from both universities staged a sit-in together in downtown Winston-Salem. She linked the cooperation to a relationship that Medgar Evers, as president of his junior class at Alcorn State University, initiated between their college and a predominantly white institution.
Evers-Williams made another important connection during her speech on Sunday night between what went on in the civil rights camp during the Vietnam War and the wars that are currently taking place in Iraq and Afghanistan. She recollected the jealousy and discord that arose among civil rights leaders when King took a stand on Vietnam, and his reaction to it.”He said, ‘Evil in this country and evil in any other country must be addressed and must be eradicated everywhere.'”
She told her listeners that the evil that particularly disturbs her at the moment is that which surrounded the recent execution of Iraqi dictator, Saddam Hussein, saying that Americans have to be knowledgeable of the inhuman, even in punishing one who was inhuman himself.
“All the hanging of Hussein did was take me back to the hangings of my native state, Mississippi,” she said.As Evers-Williams returned to her seat onstage, she was followed by a standing ovation, as were many of the contributors to Sunday night’s program.
Terryl Dozier, a student from Wake Forest University, composed a powerful poem entitled “Help Me,” and performed the piece with two of his colleagues. “Help Me” called out the names of those who served in the civil rights movement, including Evers and Evers-Williams, as well as the mottos and statements that verbalized the sentiment of activists and citizens of that era. Dozier took it a step further by challenging today’s generation to expect great things from themselves while remembering to draw strength from their faith and to share strength with one another.
Two members of the Association of Rhythmic Talent’s (A.R.T.) dance troupe, dressed in a white and in a black costume, danced to Mariah Carey’s “Hero”; a representative portion of the Wake Forest University Gospel Choir sang the hopeful selection, “The Struggle Is Over”; and the Inspirational Voices of Winston-Salem State University gave those gathered an upbeat song called “You’re Worthy.”
One student and one faculty member from both WSSU and WFU were honored with the “Building the Dream” award, given to celebrate those who are in some way embodying the principles of King’s legacy. The student recipients were Shirlette Chambers (WSSU) and Ernest Lewis (WFU); faculty award-winners were Dr. Irene Phillips (WSSU) and Dr. Steven Boyd (WFU).