Eastern Mennonite University’s sixth annual Martin Luther King Jr. Celebration occurred earlier this month between January 13 to 15. A variety of speakers and activities provided opportunities to learn more about MLK Jr’s legacy and ways to learn from him and other contemporary civil rights leaders.
Activities started early that Saturday when a group largely made up of VMRC residents and a few EMU students braved the cold, windy conditions to embark on a tour of the historic North East Neighborhood. The decision was quickly made to change it from a walking tour to a driving tour which all were happy about. After passing locations like the former Broad Street Mennonite Church, The First Baptist Church, and the former neighborhood community center, the tour group left the vans to hear a lecture in Bethel AME church, next to the Historic Dallard Newman House. Tour Guide Monica Robinson, Executive Director of Shenandoah Valley Black Heritage Project spoke throughout the tour about the urban renewal projects in the 60s which forced the African American neighborhood to shrink and move to its present location from where it had formerly been downtown. She also spoke about some of the other black communities that were scattered around the wider area.
On Sunday, there was a movie shown on campus called Rustin. The movie was about the civil rights activist Bayard Rustin, who lived from 1912 till 1987. Directed by George C. Wolfe, Rustin shows the story of a civil rights activist who tends to get overlooked in modern-day history classes. Rustin was the person who thought of the idea to do the big march on Washington, where MLK Jr. gave his famous “I Have a Dream” speech. Rustin was also gay, so the civil rights movement tended to push him to the margins. After the movie, three people talked back about the movie. Christian Parks an EMU alum, Kwyn Townsend Riley, who runs JMU affinity Spaces, and Angela Mickens of On the Road Collaborative.
Associate social work professor Deanna Durham said, “While I had heard about and read about Bayard Rustin, I did not realize what an organizer, dogged leader, and mastermind he was related to the 1963 March on Washington. I attended the 20-year commemoration march in 1983 while living in DC, which was quite large, and I had a great appreciation then for the tremendous undertaking he orchestrated in 1963. Now, after seeing the film, I am even more amazed, and while it takes a lot of people to make things happen, there are often a few who really shepherd the vision. Thank you, Bayard Rustin.”
MLK Day itself began with a solidarity march to Lehman Auditorium, where students attended a “spirited convocation” headlined by Jeremy Gillet. Gillet is a multi-award-winning playwright, actor, and educator whose work heavily focuses on the Black experience in the United States. The EMU community was fortunate enough to host Gillet during the MLK day celebrations, during which he performed one of his original pieces. “Black & 25 in America” is a series of vignettes that show the various sides of the Black community. Each character introduced throughout the piece represents a different aspect of what it is like to be young and Black in the United States, showcasing both individual and collective everyday struggles The performance was extremely thought-provoking as a whole, leaving those in attendance with thoughts and questions regarding the futures of each character.
Junior Kay Pettis, who opened for Gillet, said she “had a great time doing her solo performance “We” and showing the inner thoughts of a person of color with two different friend groups, one being mainly white, and one being mainly black. I also enjoyed seeing Jeremy’s piece and all of his characters come to life.”
A gospel choir from Virginia Union University in Richmond performed in Lehman Auditorium on Monday afternoon. This was the same gospel choir that the EMU chamber singers sang with in October, along with Bishop Hezekiah Walker. Before they started performing, Celeste Thomas, Director of Multicultural Student Services, gave an introduction followed by President Susan Schultz Huxman and Mayor Deanna Reed. After the opening talk, the VUU gospel choir, composed of 13 members and led by Joel Lester, performed seven songs. These songs moved the crowd, and some people even got up and started dancing a little. After these seven songs, the EMU Chamber singers came up on stage, and the two groups sang “I Need You to Survive ” together.
Pettis, who is also a member of the chamber singers, said, “singing with the VUU gospel choir is such a great time to break our normal practices and do different things.”
The weather unfortunately did not cooperate entirely with the day’s schedule and fast-falling snow forced the showing of “There is a Field”, a film connecting the Black and Palestinian experiences of violence, to be pushed back to Monday the 22nd.
