Each year we celebrate the life and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., honoring his legacy of civil rights advocacy and humanitarian work on the third Monday of January. This year, Martin Luther King Jr. Day fell on January 20. Rio Salado College celebrated MLK Day the following day with an in-person event at the Rio Salado Conference Center. “Titled Reflecting on the Legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.,” this thought-provoking session featured a mix of group discussions and presentations centered around Dr. King’s vision for equity, justice, and unity.
Rio Salado President Kate Smith started the afternoon with inspiring message on the importance of equity in our community. Reina Ferrufino, Chief Program Officer of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging for Rio Salado, helped moderate the event and prompted discussion among attendees in-between playing video clips of Dr. King’s speeches. Rio’s Minikah Yve-Louise presented along with Ferrufino; Latrice Wilson-Gettings helped moderate the virtual session
Ferrufino played a passage from one of Dr. King’s most stirring oratories, “The Other America,” to kick off the conversation. Delivered by Dr. King at Stanford University on April 14, 1967, the speech is an eloquent, unsparing condemnation of cultural, economic, political, and racial divisions:
“One America is beautiful for situation. And, in a sense, this America is overflowing with the milk of prosperity and the honey of opportunity. This America is the habitat of millions of people who have food and material necessities for their bodies; and culture and education for their minds; and freedom and human dignity for their spirits. In this America, millions of people experience every day the opportunity of having life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness in all of their dimensions. And in this America millions of young people grow up in the sunlight of opportunity.
But tragically and unfortunately, there is another America. This other America has a daily ugliness about it that constantly transforms the ebulliency of hope into the fatigue of despair. In this America millions of work-starved men walk the streets daily in search for jobs that do not exist. In this America millions of people find themselves living in rat-infested, vermin-filled slums. In this America people are poor by the millions. They find themselves perishing on a lonely island of poverty in the midst of a vast ocean of material prosperity.”
Attendees were encouraged to form groups to discuss questions prompted by what they had seen—does the divisions Dr. King highlighted in his speech continue to exist? What would a more equitable society look like and how could we help bring it into being? What can each of us do in our own lives and work to hold space for others? Going around the room, many participants remarked on the evergreen quality of Dr. King’s speech—that many of the issues he critiqued were still just as applicable today as they were in 1967.
Ferrufino also presented excerpts from Dr. King's “Letter from a Birmingham Jail.” This text was written by Dr. King while he was in jail, imprisoned as a participant in a nonviolent demonstration against segregation. Dr. King was inspired to write this letter after hearing public criticism from eight white religious leaders in the South who criticized his methods. Dr. King was having none of it:
“We know through painful experience that freedom is never voluntarily given by the oppressor; it must be demanded by the oppressed. Frankly I have yet to engage in a direct action campaign that was “well timed” in the view of those who have not suffered unduly from the disease of segregation. For years now I have heard the word “Wait!” It rings in the ear of every Negro with piercing familiarity. This “wait” has almost always meant “Never.” As one of distinguished jurists once said “Justice too long delayed is justice denied.””
A group discussion followed on the concept of civil disobedience and advocating for equality. The question of how institutions can be more equitable and support the cause of justice was brought up, and many participants discussed in their groups their visions for how that would be possible.
Learn More About MLK
Interested in learning more about Dr. King? Our Rio library staff has put together an informative guide full of video links, speech transcripts, historical articles, and other useful resources to give you a deeper understanding of Dr. King’s enduring impact on American history and culture.
Article by Austin Brietta