Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr Celebration

This past Monday, on January 18th, 2010, the Black Cultural Programming Committee held the annual Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr Celebration. This program commemorates the life of the Civil Rights Movement leader while also meditating on the responsibilities of those who benefit from this legacy to renew and fulfil “The Dream.”

An upbeat piece performed by Love United Gospel Choir Band followed by a jazzier piece by the Ice Cold Experience set the mood for the beginning of the program. After the introduction of the program by Deonfreya Johnson, Dereldia Clendering introduces the short play “The Meeting,” written by Jeff Stetson. With Mario Fortney and Ace Brooks portraying Dr. King and Malcolm X, the skit brings to life the possible conversation the two men could have had during their lives. LUGC follows the play with the songs “ I Will Bless Thee O Lord/Praise Him,” “Christ Has No Hands But Yours,” and “All in His Hands.” LUGC's Praise Team performed a stunning interpretive piece to Kirk Franklin's “Chains.”

Dawn Woods then guides the program to Reflections, where four speakers: each representing the four generations that have arrived to adulthood since the time of the Civil Rights Movement.

The first speaker up was Cory Hipps, the Vice President of the Student Government Association and an undergraduate at the university. Hipps's reflection, “Carrying on the Dream,” illustrated Hipps's quest to not only understand the struggles of his parents and their families, but also his role in renewing and fulfilling the dream of Dr. King. Hipps recalled an experience that his mother-an elementary school teacher-had with one of her students about his fear of being disowned from his parents: “Your color will rub off on me and I wont be able to go home.” Hipps involvement with community service and mentoring is directly related to the struggles and achievements of his forbears.

The next speaker, Stephanie Hill, is a doctoral candidate at the university and also the Project Coordinator for Project GRAD. Hill's reflections, “Renewal of the Dream,” provoke thoughtful questions on the nature of humankind and challenged students to not only look underneath the surface of the world that they live in but to engage it more fully by “renewing” King's Dream with our everyday actions. Students should continue to struggle with their dual natures of “altruism and narcissism,” and carefully exam the influence of Man's dual nature in the world around them.

Following Hill was Tearsa Smith, a graduate of Florida A&M University and news anchor of WATE News. Smith's “Whats Your Legacy?” provoked the students to think about the type of legacy they wanted to leave to their children. She asked students to not “get so drunk with your power, money and success and forget what your role is...someone before you did the work so that you can enjoy your time here at Rocky Top.”

The last speaker, Dr. Shaedrick Tillman, was the former Vice Chancellor of Research at U.T. His reflections “Dreams and Service,” touched on the transcendence of Dr. King's Dream has over time, and that service was for the individual the “rent you pay for the space you occupy in this world.”


Overall, the Martin Luther King, Jr. Celebration was a beautiful program that not only commemorated the past, but also called on those in the present to build their legacies for future generations.