On Jan. 15, people gathered inside Fountain Street Church in Downtown Grand Rapids to hear writer and political commentator Melissa Harris-Perry, and many others talk about the impact of Martin Luther King Jr.’s teachings and his impact on equality in America.
Guests were treated to performances by Kenneth Henderson and friends throughout the evening, with songs like, “The Black National Anthem” by the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) leader James Weldon Johnson, “Thank You” by Walter Hawkins, “I Need You to Survive” by Hezekiah Walker, The Love Fellowship Choir and “Believe For It” by CeCe Williams.
A video of previous MLK commemorations was shown after Henderson’s performance, with keynote speakers like MLK III, rapper Chuck D, Susan Taylor, and others who have visited Grand Rapids.
Grand Rapids Community College President Charles Lepper and the presidents of Davenport University and Grand Valley State University spoke during the ceremony, shedding light on how they believe in diversity, equity, and inclusion.
“Dr. King was a man of faith and a man of action,” Lepper said. “He was rightfully recognized with a Nobel Peace Prize, but Dr. King was also threatened, bombed, stabbed, jailed, and ultimately assassinated as he fought injustice in the world and sadly his work remains incomplete…”
Davenport President Richard Pappas spoke about the discrimination some students are facing on college campuses across the country as emotions run high following the start of the war in Gaza.
“…Ladies and gentlemen, we need some action,” Pappas said when referencing the Dec. 5 hearing on Capitol Hill when the presidents of Havard, Massachusetts Institute of Technology and University of Pennsylvania offered controversial testimony when asked if the calling for the genocide of Jewish people would violate their colleges’ code of conduct.
While the prominent presidents failed to state that the threats to student safety would violate their campus policies when questioned by government officials, Pappas wanted to make it clear that he and his fellow presidents at GRCC and GVSU would not allow such actions on their campuses.
“I can tell you with the three presidents here today… We would not allow that kind of discriminatory activity on our campuses.”
GRCC, GVSU and Davenport presented the ‘Inherit The Dream’ scholarship to five high school students to help aid their tuition when they attend college in the fall. Grand Rapids Public Schools also showcased the top three winners for the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Social Justice Legacy Contest, which asks sixth graders across the district to show and identify social justice issues, during the ceremony.
Melissa Harris-Perry ended the night with her keynote speech about the history of MLK, his relevance and how it relates to the experience of Black people today. She presented several photos and slideshows of many significant moments of the Civil Rights Movement, the Hurricane Katrina disaster and current events.
“…Maybe if we want to think about whether or not Dr. King is relevant, we ask whether or not his experience of being a Black child in 1929 has anything to do with what it’s like to be born a Black child today,” said Harris-Perry. “We could talk about a lot of things but maybe life expectancy is just one… Just between 2006 and 2018, first of all, we see American life expectancy start to flatten overall, but you see Black life expectancy start to decline.”
With this example of the decline of the life expectancy in both Black men and women, she talked about “the thrift of time” that Black people have experienced throughout history with the examples of the lynching of Joe Boxley, 19, in 1929, and the history of Juneteenth.
“Juneteenth is literally about the thrift of time. Juneteenth is about like, ‘I was free and you ain’t told me I was free for like a very long time,’” said Harris-Perry. “No ‘Happy Juneteenth’ just ‘It is Juneteenth.’”
Harris-Perry asked questions like, “Is Dr. King relevant today?” and “Is America still relevant?” while explaining the injustices people still face today and the history of the American flag and what it means today for African Americans.
“Final story, 1965, Anthony Quinn, 5 years old, has gone down to make a statement. He is carrying an American flag and this Mississippi Highway Patrol man is so incensed to see this black child with an American flag, and his mother says, ‘Don’t you let that man take your flag. And so I’m going to say that,” said Harris-Perry. “…I don’t know the people I’m made of. We like to romanticize those who jumped over the side of the slave ship and God bless them for finding their freedom before becoming slaves, but they are not the ones that I come from. I couldn’t have come from them, because they took their freedom. I come from the ones who just lived through it. So don’t let that man take your flag. This ain’t their country. This is your country. Don’t let that man take your flag.”
