\u201cDeeds, not words.\u201d<\/p>\n
I have heard this thought expressed many times recently. It\u2019s spoken with a conviction that words have done little to change things in desperate need of change. Words are empty or, worse, they are smokescreens used to cover over unforgivable deeds. And yet, when thinking today of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., it seems impossible to separate the man of action from the man of words. I can\u2019t envision the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom without hearing in my mind the cadences of Dr. King\u2019s Dream. I can\u2019t read \u201cLetter From Birmingham Jail\u201d without recalling the narrow cell in which King was imprisoned when he wrote.<\/p>\n
\u201cBeloved community,\u201d \u201ca single garment of destiny,\u201d \u201cI have a dream\u201d\u2014these are words of inspiration. These are the first words my daughters will hear in their grade school assemblies this week. But they are words of challenge, too\u2014to us, and for us. How are we to think of violence and nonviolence in the wake of Ferguson, or New York, or Southfield? \u201cI am at war with myself \/ Having trouble finding the Martin in me,\u201d reveals Obasi Davis, a young poet from Oakland, CA, \u201cToo much anger \/ Not enough tolerance.\u201d<\/p>\n
And yet, today people are gathering to speak with one another. People will come together to remember, and wrestle with, and re-vision communities in which so much is in need of change. I think of Dr. King, and I am both confronted and inspired by the thought it might always take both words and deeds.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo it shall be spoken,\u201d writes Gwendolyn Brooks in her tribute poem below, \u201cSo it shall be done.\u201d<\/p>\n
Rosemary Weatherston
\nDirector, Dudley Randall Center for Print Culture<\/p>\n
“Martin Luther King Jr.<\/strong>“<\/strong> A man went forth with gifts.<\/em> He was a tragic grace. He tried to heal the vivid volcanoes. His word still burns the center of the sun, So it shall be done.<\/p>\n In celebration of his many contributions to the world, the Martin Luther King Jr. commemoration will host a discussion with students, faculty, staff and the community looking at how King’s message informs us in light of the recent events in our country around race, class, socio-economic disparity and police militarization.<\/p>\n Contact: Drew Peters, Assistant Director, Student Life Office \u201cI Have A Dream<\/a> . . . ,\u201d Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., August 28, 1963<\/p>\n \u201cLetter From Birmingham Jail<\/a>,\u201d Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., April 1963<\/p>\n Obasi Davis<\/a>, \u201c17th<\/sup> Annual Bringing the Noise for Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.\u201d event, January 20, 2014<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" \u201cDeeds, not words.\u201d I have heard this thought expressed many times recently. It\u2019s spoken with a conviction that words have done little to change things in desperate need of change. Words are empty or, worse, they are smokescreens used to … Continue reading
\nBy Gwendolyn Brooks<\/p>\n
\nHe was a prose poem.<\/em><\/em><\/p>\n
\nHe was a warm music.<\/p>\n
\nHis ashes are
\nreading the world.
\nHis Dream still wishes to anoint
\nthe barricades of faith and of control.<\/p>\n
\nabove the thousands and the
\nhundred thousands.
\nThe word was Justice. It was spoken.
\nSo it shall be spoken.<\/p>\n
\nMartin Luther King Jr. Commemoration – January 22, 2015, 7:00 p.m. Fountain Lounge<\/strong><\/p>\n
\nPhone: 313-993-1593
\nEmail: petersas [at] udmercy.edu<\/p>\n