Honoring the Legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
A message from: Lorenley Báez, Associate Provost for Equity & Belonging
Office of Equity & Belonging
Dear Students,
Each year, on the third Monday of January, we celebrate, commemorate, and honor the life, legacy, and impact of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Dr. King utilized the power of words and nonviolent resistance to achieve his goals of justice and racial equality. He firmly believed that all people everywhere, regardless of color or creed, are “equal members of the human family.” Dr. King’s campaign efforts to eradicate inequality and racism were countless. He advocated for the right to vote, desegregation, labor rights, housing rights, and many other civil rights.
At the conclusion of the Selma to Montgomery marches, at the steps of the Montgomery, Alabama state capitol, Dr. King gave his “How Long, Not Long” speech. In this speech, Dr. King called for people to continue the struggle for justice, in particular voting rights for African-Americans. He believed that justice would prevail, and that the “arc of the moral universe” would bend toward justice for all people. He says, “the end we seek is a society at peace with itself, a society that can live with its conscience.” Dr. King understood that true peace is not only the absence of tension but the presence of justice (When Peace becomes Obnoxious, 1956).
Almost seventy years after these speeches, his words remain as symbols of our commitment toward justice and peace. While we are witnessing different forms of evil and destruction dominating our public discourse and lives, let us continue to dialogue with one another with the intention to create a better world. Dr. King understood that “peace cannot live in a lie.” We have countless examples of this globally. Let us continue to march on until truth and justice indeed prevail.
As we look ahead to the spring semester, I invite you to join me for the Belonging Journey Dialogue Series. We will examine, explore, and interrogate our notions of who belongs, structural inequality and peacebuilding. More details are forthcoming soon.