Despite rainy weather, more than 100 people packed the African-American Cultural Center last night to celebrate Martin Luther King Jr.’s legacy with a candlelight vigil. On what would have been King’s 78th birthday, the vigil kicked off a series of events that commemorate his work during the Civil Rights Movement. “Celebrating such a great man is important, and this is just a token of our appreciation to all that he has done,” said Curtis Parker Jr., Office of Multicultural Affairs program coordinator. Winton Anderson, the event’s co-chairman and 2006 Mr. Imani, said the event’s organizers planned a march beginning at the Memorial Tower and ending at the African-American Cultural Center, but the weather did not permit it. “Even without the march it felt a little more intimate because we were all together in one room for the vigil,” Anderson said. After Chancellor Sean O’Keefe’s introduction and a poem written and recited by communication studies junior Matthew Davis, the crowd lit battery-operated candles and sang “Lift Every Voice And Sing,” “This Little Light Of Mine” and “We Shall Overcome.”
Dara Davenport, biological sciences sophomore, moderated a discussion panel for the event addressing racism and King’s influence on today’s generation. The four panelists were 1975 Grambling University graduate Alice “Yvonne” Byrd, Student Government Vice President Christen Heaton, 100 Black Men of Baton Rouge founding President Brace B. Godfrey Jr. and Anerea Williams, who attended Baton Rouge High School, Southern University and Tulane University. “I am deeply influenced by Martin Luther King Jr.,” Godfrey said. “There’s probably no single person, besides my parents, whose words and actions have influenced what I have done with my life.” Williams said she encountered racism from both black and white people when she was younger because she is a “light-skinned black woman.” “Racism, prejudice, sexism – everything like that stems from ignorance,” she said. Mass communication junior Brittany Scott said she enjoyed listening to the panelists’ understanding of the event’s theme, “Transformational Leadership. Personal Commitment. Local Action. Global Change.” She said the panelists were insightful. “[King’s] legacy impacted me by showing me that not only do you have to be part of something, but you should be able to call yourself a leader at some point,” Scott said.
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—–Contact Angelle Barbazon at [email protected]
AACC hosts MLK candlelight vigil
January 16, 2007