We shall overcome, we shall overcome, we shall overcome some day.
With those uplifting lyrics, the Wabash community commemorated the work of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. On Monday at noon, students, faculty, staff and members of the Crawfordsville community at large marched from the Chapel to Trippett Hall and on to the Malcolm X Institute (MXI) in memory of Dr. King. Along the way, spiritual and protest songs indigenous to the Civil Rights Movement like ‘We Shall Overcome’, ‘Swing Low, Sweet Chariot’ and ‘This Little Light of Mine’ came from the crowd gathered to commemorate Martin Luther King Day.
“It’s important just to remember Martin Luther King and what he stood for,” said Mr. Jeremy Morris ’08, who was a marshall for the March. “Even though we don’t get the day off we still have to show that we remember him and everything he fought for.”
“The reason for the march was so that it could be a participatory event,” said Dr. Timothy Lake, Director of the MXI, “something that people can participate in rather than just witness a lecture or see a performance. This would be something that you could actually engage in. What better symbolism than the march – its one of the features of the civil rights that stands out.”
On the steps of Trippett Hall, Mr. Horace Turner, the former Director of the MXI said a few words reminding those marching of the history of Civil Rights at Wabash College and its relationship to the Civil Rights Movement as a whole.
“That little march made me realize the number of times we marched here at Wabash,” Mr Turner said, “to promote diversity in the faculty, to do what we could to get the Owen Dustin situation up where we would have a means of getting Owen Dustin in, and to get the Malcolm X Institute.
As you think about the movement and especially you young students here at Wabash understand that you are here as a result of them,” Mr. Turner told the crowd. “You are really being carried on their shoulders. They made quite a bit of sacrifice which means you’re going to have to sacrifice. You are going to have to be aware, you are going to have to push on and push forward.”
At the end of the march, the crowd gathered at the MXI for a reading of Dr. King’s famous ‘I Have A Dream’ Speech from the father of father of Mr. Wesley Smith ’1, Mr. William Smith. Mr. Smith grew up in Chicago in the famous Henry Horner Projects and vividly remembers some of the violent reaction to the assassination of Dr. King in 1968.
“The day after his assassination,” Mr. Smith said, “riots were happening throughout the city. As a matter of fact, they started shutting down all the schools throughout the city, because there were safety concerns in the neighborhood. And I recall, as we were leaving the school that afternoon, I could see smoke bellowing from the various businesses – businesses that were very dear to our hearts.”
The vandalism of those businesses was a palpable reminder of the divisiveness of race that perpetuated long after Dr. King’s death.
“The only reason why they were burning these businesses were because they were white owned,” Mr. Smith said. “I recall the Black Panther Party was located three blocks from the projects where I was living, and there was city wide demonstrations. Just because the assassination occurred, there was citywide retaliation against white owned businesses.
“My dad had a gas station,” he continued. “I recall him putting a sign out in front of the business saying ‘black owned’ ”.
“I was ten years old,” he said, “and as I stayed in that neighborhood and grew up in that neighborhood, I acquired a yearning for the character of Dr. King and what he stood for, and that was for equality of all men, all women regardless of race, creed or color.”
According to Dr. Lake, Wabash College has had organized events recognizing Dr. King’s birthday and achievements since the day was signed into law by Reagan in the 1980s. The march is only in its second year and was retooled this year in order to allow more people time to participate.
“The idea (for the march) came out of conversation with staff and students,” Dr. Lake said, “and was instead of just focusing on a keynote lecture in the evening, but to try to make the whole day a celebration. We wanted to create a program and celebration that gives a community various opportunities to celebrate because not everyone can make a 7:00 lecture. If you can spread the opportunities throughout the day, maybe people can cut in and out as their calendar fits.
“Last year,” he said, “as a matter of fact we did the exact same thing but we had it separated – we had a march at 7 in the morning – not too many people were getting up at 7. We did get a smathering of people and it was a good time but it just wasn’t a well timed event. In conversations with students and planning the day of celebration, we thought we’d combine the morning march and the noonday program.”
Dr. Lake feels the way the MXI and Wabash College celebrate Dr. King’s memory reflects the inspiration behind the creation of Martin Luther King Day.
“To me,” Dr. Lake said, “the leaders who helped enact the law kept reminding everybody that it was not a day off but a day on. In that spirit I can see that the way to honor him or honor his legacy is to infuse that throughout the workday as opposed to giving them an excuse to not come to work and then maybe not have the opportunity so readily available to honor the holiday.
“What Wabash is trying to do is to knit it into the culture of the workday life of learning of experience,” he added. “It’s a powerful tool.”