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Journalist Gwen Ifill, above, delivers the keynote lecture for the MLK Symposium. (Photo by Austin Thomason, U-M Photo Services). Storyteller and musician La’Ron Williams, below, addresses the crown during the Circle of Unity on the Diag. The event, which featured music, song and poetry, was sponsored by the Michigan Community Scholars Program. (Photo by Scott Soderberg, U-M Photo Services)
A student takes part in an activity celebrating the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. during the Annual Children and Youth Program: A Day Filled with Creativity, Dialogue and Entertainment.(Photo by Austin Thomason, U-M Photo Services)
PBS anchor Gwen Ifill said some who view the political scene maintain that having an African-American president suggests the struggle for racial and social justice is over, but she disagrees.
“We have a black president, black members of Congress and CEOs,” Ifill said. And while she said the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. would be pleased at progress, “Perhaps he would be leading another march on Washington for health care reform, or he would be participating in a sit-in outside the Sudanese embassy demanding action on Darfur.”
Ifill added that being black in modern America remains a challenge. “I still might have a hard time trying to get a cab at a certain time of dusk,” she said.
The veteran journalist spoke Jan. 18 in a keynote address for the 24th annual Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. Symposium before a nearly packed Hill Auditorium.
With the program happening days after the catastrophic earthquake in Haiti, many speakers lent voice to ways to assist in the disaster.
“At the heart of Dr. King’s philosophy was the idea of service and charity to others,” said Lester Monts, vice provost and senior counselor to the president for the arts, diversity and undergraduate affairs. He urged the university community to learn how to help by going to a Web site detailing U-M’s response to the disaster in Haiti: www.vpcomm.umich.edu/issues/haiti.html.
For their work to assemble the annual symposium, Monts praised John Matlock, associate vice-provost and executive director, Office of Academic Multicultural Initiatives, and the MLK Symposium Planning Committee. “It’s amazing that the U-M’s MLK Day commemoration is still going so strong after 24 years,” Matlock said. “It’s a credit to the campus community that so many activities are offered over a three-week period.
“Additionally, I met at a couple dozen graduates of U-M at various programs who return each year to celebrate the life and legacy of Dr. King. These former U-M students always talk fondly of how the commitment to change, social and economic justice and educational opportunities have to be lifelong commitments — not just while one is in college — lessons learned from previous MLK Day speakers.”
President Mary Sue Coleman noted that this year’s MLK Symposium theme — “Be a catalyst for change,” spoken by Shirley Chisholm, the first African-American woman elected to the U.S. Congress and to run for president — also applied to former university President Robben Wright Fleming, who died Jan 11.
“In 1970 students and faculty rightfully protested the poor representation of African Americans on this campus,” Coleman said. “In fact, they stood on the steps of this building and threatened to shut down the university unless changes were made.
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Above, Poet/author Sapphire delivers her talk “Push, Literacy, Women and African American Literature” to a standing-room-only crowd in the Michigan Union Ballroom. Sapphire’s novel “Push” was adapted into the Academy Award-nominated movie “Precious.” (Photo by Scott Soderberg, U-M Photo Services). Below, Robert Bobb, emergency financial manager for the Detroit Public Schools, delivers his lecture “Catalyst for Change” at Rackham Auditorium. Bobb discussed effecting change in large organizations. (Photo by Martin Vloet, U-M Photo Services)
“President Fleming listened and responded. And among his many reactions to this campus crisis was to move forward and make real the Center for Afroamerican and African Studies.”
Coleman said that among the center’s valuable contributions is the Semester in Detroit academic program. “They are learning about themselves and their capacity to make a difference and be a catalyst. This is what it means to be a catalyst and to initiate change, to make a difference with your ideas and your actions. The ramifications can be boundless, and the benefits lasting.”
Introducing Ifill was Dean Robert Dolan of the Stephen M. Ross School of Business, which co-sponsored the event with the MLK Symposium Planning Committee.
Ifill joked that while many may boast to have marched with King, her father, a minister, actually walked with him. She said her parents and King strove for possibility: “Because of those who have gone before, I remain committed to the things these people taught me. It’s why I’m a journalist, actually, why I believe the search for truth and justice are compatible.”
Ifill said she and her brother and sisters were shocked when their father taught them to respond to racial slurs by saying, “Thank you.” “But a simple rebuttal would defuse the intended insult, the person would be reduced to silence,” she recalled.
Ifill said her experiences helped her appreciate the value of diversity and of difference.
“I’ve rediscovered the world is often resistant to change. But by shining the light of justice, the light of understanding, the light of tolerance into the world is as necessary as it can be satisfying,” Ifill said. “It’s the best way of honoring the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.”
Responding to questions from the audience, Ifill said President Barack Obama has responded to a host of issues that “would have brought down a lesser man, in his first year of office.” But she said the president has more problems in front of him than behind him. “He made a lot of promises he didn’t have to make,” she said.
