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Remembering MLK Jr. Civil rights advocate Kimberlé Crenshaw dissects King’s legacy BY MEGHAN MCBRADY
MMCBRADY@LANTHORN.COM
LIVING LIKE KING: Kevin Powell speaks in the Fieldhouse Monday, Jan. 16. He is a writer and a public speaker who travels the nation and the world to speak. GVL | LUKE HOLMES
Speaker Kevin Powell encourages ‘peace, love and non-violence’ BY JESS HODGE
ASSOCIATE@LANTHORN.COM
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. preached many ideas, but none quite as strong or as prevalent as peace, love and non-violence. Kevin Powell, activist and writer, emphasized these points throughout his keynote presentation Monday, Jan. 16. Powell kicked off the first day of Grand Valley State University’s MLK Jr. Commemoration Week by leading a silent march from Zumberge Hall to the Fieldhouse where he then delivered his speech. Tying in the rights King fought for during the Civil Rights Movement, Powell talked about inclusion in America, especially when facing the impending inauguration of a controversial president. “There is no place in our country for disrespect for people, sisters and brothers who are disabled, folks who might be poor, folks who might
be lesbian gay, bisexual transgender, folks who are women, people of all different racial and cultural backgrounds,” he said. “Whether you’re a Democrat or a Republican or independent, whatever you call yourself a liberal or conservative, (I) don’t know how you can sit in our country over the last 12, 18, 24 months and hear the kinds of things we’ve heard.” Powell went on to say the things that have been said about immigrants, about Muslims and about women are not only wrong, but terrible things. He offered an example of why the rhetoric against Muslims was wrong, saying people used to have the same mentality against Jewish people, and even against Catholics. “Real inclusion and real diversity means that everyone in this room is an equal,” Powell said. “Our voices matter equally and our stories matter equally and we should share pow-
er equally which means that my contributions to this thing we call America should be equally taught to me everywhere I go.” He dug into King’s background, going back to his childhood to offer an explanation as to why King thought the way he did. King was born in 1929 into an upper-middle class family in Atlanta Georgia. Although his family was well off in terms of money, the neighborhood they lived in had a mix of upper class, middle class and lower class families living amongst each other. Powell suggested since King grew up around others who were different than him, he had a sense of what was right and wrong and, perhaps, he knew to share things with those who were less fortunate than he. “There’s nothing wrong with having privilege, there’s nothing wrong with being middle class or upper class,” Powell said. SEE POWELL | A2
Throughout the MLK Commemoration Week, the Grand Valley State University community engaged in social justice activities and discussions which emulated King’s ideals of equality and embracing diversity in all of its forms. Bringing Kimberlé Crenshaw, a Civil Rights advocate, to speak at GVSU Wednesday, Jan. 18, to highlight and celebrate Martin Luther King Jr’s legacy allowed a dissection of justice and democracy post the Civil Rights Movement. “I want to tell you that this is a challenge at this point,” she said. “This is a sort of ritual now across the country on Martin Luther King Day in which we honor not only his legacy but the right of the social justice movement that his legacy embodies and we have done now for almost half-a-century.” Crenshaw is also a professor of law at the UCLA
“Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter,” said Martin Luther King Jr., a man who is now honored as one of the most prominent civil rights leaders of the 20th century. Almost
50 years after the evening of Apr. 4, 1968, when the activist was brutally assassinated while organizing peaceful protests against racial and social injustice, the nation continues to admire and carry on his work. Grand Valley State University’s MLK Jr. Day of Service and Solidarity will be
held Saturday, Jan. 21 in the Cook-Dewitt Center from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. In support of social change, students are encouraged to give back to their community and commemorate King’s dream. “I think it is important for students to remember the legacy MLK left behind,” said Rachael Zaborowski,
port the community. “Our work to create a truly inclusive and equitable campus and to mitigate the impact of what we know as part of the story against discrimination and marginalization in both in education and society at large is held heavily and worn by theory,” he said. Highlighting her theory of intersectionality and the critical race theory, which emphasizes seeing relationships between race, gender, sexual orientation and class, Crenshaw’s talk stressed even though this is a celebration of King’s legacy, there still needs to be a talk about the politics and issues currently happening in society. “The (Martin Luther King Jr.) Commission said this should be an occasion for us to come together and celebrate the dream of equality, rather than the realities of inequality,” she said. “It’s been like this for SEE CRENSHAW | A2
TOGETHER: Kimberlé Crenshaw, civil rights advocate, speaks to a crowd of GVSU students, faculty and staff inside the Grand River Room Wednesday, Jan. 18. GVL | MEGHAN MCBRADY
Living the ‘dream’ BY EVA PERRON NEWS@LANTHORN.COM
School of Law and Columbia Law School, with her specialty lying in race and gender issues. She capitalized during her presentation “American Democracy: Revolutionizing Our American Myths,” how a society can lift up King’s legacy, there must be a willingness to break conventions and have uncomfortable conversations – even on a day that celebrates his legacy. About 550 participants, which was made up of GVSU’s faculty, staff and students, listened to Crenshaw’s talk at 4:30 p.m. on the Allendale Campus in the Kirkhof ’s Center’s Grand River Room and as part of a simulcast at the DeVos Center’s Loosemore Auditorium at the Pew Campus. Jesse Bernal, the vice president of inclusion and equity at GVSU, spoke before Crenshaw’s talk and noted how the university tries to adopt various initiatives and efforts to engage and sup-
graduate assistant for the Community Service Learning Center (CSLC). The day will start off with an opening presentation by Breannah Alexander, director of strategic programs at Partners for a Racism-Free Community. Afterward, service projects with numer-
GV to honor MLK Jr., serve local community ous local organizations will take place within the Grand Rapids area. “Our community partners are fantastic,” Zaborowski said. “They are allowing students to come in, provide service and get the whole experience.” GVSU’s MLK Jr. Day of Service and Solidarity is
part of a nationwide service day. According to CSLC’s website, the goal of the program is to educate the GVSU community about the Civil Rights Movement and to encourage participants to get involved in their communities. SEE DREAM | A2
SERVING OTHERS: Grand Valley State University students help build Cherry Street Park’s new ice rink for the Martin Luther King Jr. community service projects Friday, Jan. 22, 2016. For 2017’s day of service and solidarity, students and volunteers will spread out in the greater Grand Rapids community to work on various projects with local organizations. GVL | SARA CARTE