MLK week kicks off
Celebration to focus on continuing impact
By Mary Frances Czarsty, assistant news editor
Posted on January 11, 2007

Janis James and La Tasha Smith, both graduate students at JMU, have been working closely with the Center for Multicultural Student Services since September to plan the annual Martin Luther King Jr. Celebration.

“This year, the biggest thing for me is the idea of impact,” James said. “We want people to understand the work that has gone into the Civil Rights Movement and what it will take to continue to make change.”

The program is a weeklong effort to promote the life and accomplishments of Martin Luther King Jr. and this year will mark the 20th year JMU has hosted an MLK celebration.

“King was part of a long fight, and we want to present students with ideas on how to take part in the future of that fight and continue his legacy,” said Kim Turner, the assistant director for multicultural programs.

While the program includes some of the traditional events, like the march across campus scheduled for Jan. 11 and the formal program on Jan. 15 that includes keynote speaker Cornel West, there are some new additions to the celebration.

“We’re starting the march from ISAT this year,” James said, “so we can symbolically march over the bridge, and there will be stations of gospel singers along the way.”

James said the march starts at dusk so leaders of the march can carry lit torches.

Turner said in past years there have been about 100 to 150 students who participate, so “we’ve been working closely with campus security on that end.”

The NAACP is co-sponsoring a reenactment of the landmark Supreme Court case 1954 Brown v. Board of Education, supporting James and Smith’s vision of inspiring students to create change by connecting them with the past.

“It’s important that we show how much we’ve come together and just how far we’ve come over the years,” James said. “I think that’s something that is really neglected when we talk about civil rights today.”

The Step Back and Remember Forum will take place on Jan. 17 in Transitions, and will feature members of the community who grew up in Harrisonburg during the Civil Rights Movement. There will also be a skit entitled “What Race am I?” to dispel some common racial stereotypes.

This year’s keynote speaker, West, is an author and professor of African American studies and religion at Princeton, and an active participant during the 1960s Civil Rights Movement.

“He is well researched and informed on racism and social issues today, so he really is perfect for the occasion,” Turner said.

All of the events stress the importance of the past, present and future, Turner said, to educate and getting as many students involved as possible.

“We want students to not walk past something they think should be changed, but actually do something about it,” Smith said.