A Shout Out to MLK

as i was writing the action plan paper for our group, i dug a bit a research about MLK, since after all our action plan revolved around his remembrance. now, i knew beforehand that MLK had come to visit our campus at least once, and also the fact that as a student body, we don't do crap to remember MLK on his birthday every year but to bitch and moan about how we don't get a day off like we did in high school. i can't lie about this, i am definitely guilty in all of the above, and it took this action plan to realize what i have been doing wrong.

let me share with you a little about what i found.

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. visited Illinois Wesleyan's campus twice in his lifetime, once in 1961 and again in 1966. between which, he had been recognized as time magazine's "man of the year" as well as the Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts in the civil rights movement. however, it was not his first visit that was most remembered, it was his visit in 1966. on thursday, february 10, 1966, MLK came and gave a speech at the president's convocation here at Illinois Wesleyan. he spoke out here, against racism and inequality. he preached to the student body about how they could personally stop racism from happening on their campus, in their community, and in their nation. one of his quotes was, “The basic thing about a man is not his specificity but his fundamentum, not the texture of his hair or the color of his skin, but his eternal dignity and worth.”

by these words, our university was influenced at the time, but with time, that influence had faded. just as our society's remembrance of the civil rights movement faded with time. let that no longer be the case. let us remember what MLK told us that day, and let us also remember what MLK represented as a huge figure of the civil rights movement. let us no longer think of MLK day as a day off of work or school, but rather as a "day on," as one of my classmates so eloquently put. let us use that day as a day to actively stand out against racism. who's with me!!