SMU’s annual Martin Luther King celebration week began Tuesday with Senior Tabari Stillman reciting King’s “I Have A Dream” speech in front of a crowd of students and faculty members in Hughes-Trigg Center.
The Multicultural Student Affairs department produces the event each year during the Martin Luther King holiday. The event allows the SMU community to reserve time to remember and celebrate the evolution of Dr. King’s dream and efforts.
The crowd listened tentatively to the speech and Stillman’s comments.
“The speech was very moving because you could feel his emotions. He was great,” faculty member Sharon Matlock said.
“The speaker enlightened us to what Dr. King was all about which is equals rights for everyone not just African Americans,” participant Felecia Hopson said.
Kevin Daniels read a self-written Civil Rights poem at the event and Matt Houston performed a solo trumpet number to contribute to the MLK kick-off day.
The celebration continued on Wednesday with the annual MLK Unity Walk. A largely diverse group met outside of Meadows Museum. Students and faculty happily greeted one another and were eager to participate in the walk. People of different races and ages walked arm-in-arm down the SMU Boulevard singing “We Shall Overcome” among other spirituals. The organizers of the event were happy with the turn out.
“I love seeing diversity and this is one of the most diverse events that the Multicultural department has,” MLK Committee member Joseph Thomas said.
After the Unity Walk, participants listened to a 30-minute audio of a speech that King gave on SMU’s campus in 1966. In the speech he, acknowledged the influence that the Civil Rights Movement had on desegregation efforts but said more change and especially equality was needed.
The crowd listened as the Vice President of Student Affairs Jim Caswell reflected on his involvement in the Civil Rights movement and the experience he had at the funeral of the late Dr. King.
“Remembering Dr. King brings us together in light of everything occurring in this day and time," senior Nina Morris said. "Because of his dream we can come together regardless of race, nationality or creed.”
