Drawing parallels between Martin Luther King's dream of
equality for all people with the historic inauguration
of Barack Obama as the United States' first African-American
president, Ed Gordon said both are men who sought change
and believed in themselves, but could not achieve their
goals without change in others.
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FROM KING TO OBAMA: Ed Gordon, the keynote
speaker for Eastern Michigan University's Martin
Luther King Jr. Day Celebration, discusses the
struggles King and President Barack Obama, the
nation's first African-American president, faced
in
pursuing change. He spoke before a packed
audience
in the Student Center Auditorium. |
"We stand at a unique moment. We are a country and nation
that have a real chance for change," said Gordon, host
of the nationally syndicated TV show, "Our World With
Black Enterprise," and the keynote speaker at Eastern
Michigan University's annual President's MLK
Luncheon Jan 19. "King saw that change could benefit us
all. Obama, like King, knows it will take all of us.
"...Obama has said we are responsible for ourselves, but
we rise and fall as one. Commit as King did and commit
of yourself. Change for the better. Because change starts
with you," Gordon said to enthusiastic applause from a
lunch crowd of approximately 500 who gathered in the Student
Center Grand Ballroom.
Gordon admitted it was ironic that Obama takes office
one day after the nation pauses in its annual remembrance
of MLK. But, as America, as a whole, typically thinks of
King only during January and February, Gordon cautioned
those listening not to let either King or Obama end up
just as images — as they are portrayed on posters
and T-shirts at every neighborhood gas station.
"If we only see them as images of the dream, we have failed
both of them," said the previous Emmy winner.
Shortly before the luncheon, Gordon spoke to a packed
audience in the Student Center Auditorium. There, he gave
a shorter variation of his lunch speech, providing more
time for a question-and-answer session.
Topics touched upon included O.J. Simpson and race (Gordon
was the first to interview Simpson after the murder "trial
of the century" in 1995); concerns about African Americans
shaping their values based on what they see from rap stars
and professional athletes; making a difference in one's
community; and the early lack of support Obama had from
African Americans in his bid for the Democratic presidential
nomination.
On the last subject, Gordon said the question arose whether
Obama was "black enough" for African-Americans. Gordon
recalls how Obama, whom he knows, responded.
"He (Obama) said, 'I'm black today. I was black yesterday.
I'll be black tomorrow,'" Gordon recalled, saying it was
that attitude that made people of all colors eventually
embrace him as a viable candidate, irregardless of race.
Gordon reminded the crowd that King, too, was not always
popular, especially near the end of his life, when he began
talking about reform for America's poor and opposing Vietnam.
Gordon even semi-joked when he said that everyone will
tell you they were in Washington, D.C., that day to hear
King's "I Have a Dream" speech. Gordon said, the truth
is, most were keeping quiet and wondering why King was
stirring things up.
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RISE UP: The EMU Gospel Choir electrified
the
President's MLK Luncheon audience with a rousing
rendition of "I've Been Born Again." Eastern Michigan
University's annual celebration also included
discussion sessions, a campus march, an afterglow
gathering and a Hip Hop Explosion talent event. |
"As he (Obama) takes his oath of office, I hope we can
take an oath ourselves," Gordon said to the auditorium
audience. "With the changes he discusses, hopefully change
will come about in all of us."
During the President's Luncheon, a number of awards were
handed out — to young and old — who exemplify
the values of Dr. King.
Larry Gates, director of EMU Dining Services; Deborah
Harmon, an EMU associate professor of teacher education;
and Derrick Jackson, chief deputy clerk for Washtenaw
County and a volunteer coordinator with Barack Obama's
presidential campaign, were awarded the MLK Jr. Honor Awards.
Gates, who has been involved over the years with a number
of community service ventures, including Hope Clinic and
his work at First Baptist Church in Ann Arbor, was honored.
"This has given me the opportunity to serve and be patient,
humble and sensitive to the needs of others," Gates said.
"If I can help someone in this world, then my living will
not be in vain."
Harmon recalled attending desegregated schools during
her formative years and not having teachers care about
her education or her future. She said that
environment changed when she came to EMU, first as a student
and then as an educator. She pointed to the
College of Education and the administration as being supportive
of her developing a master's degree in urban education
and diversity at EMU.
"Like Obama, I believe in hope, hope in the difficult
and uncertain," she said. "I have a belief that there are
better days ahead, that we can turn the audacity of hope
into dreams."
Jackson, who was in Washington, D.C., for the inauguration,
gave his award speech via You Tube.
"I can think of no better place to be than here. To remember
MLK Jr. and to be here for the inauguration of Barack Obama," Jackson
said, during his short speech that appeared on a projector
screen. "The past and future is always a battle. Our job
is to lay the foundation in the present."
Eastern Michigan University student Jari Billiot was the
recipient of the MLK Student Humanitarian Award. The award
recognizes individuals from within the University and the
local community who exemplify the values and ideals of
Dr. King. Andrew Stefan and Jasmine Lee placed second and
third, respectively.
Allison Sheppard, an EMU senior, was presented the Evans-Strand
Award, a $1,000 prize that recognizes an individual for
significant contributions in advancing the cause of diversity
at EMU. The award is modeled after the Nobel Peace Prize.
Sheppard was not present as she was giving a keynote speech
elsewhere.
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REFLECTING MLK: (above, from left) Larry
Gates, director of EMU Dining Services, accepts
his MLK Honor Award from University
Ombudsman Greg
Peoples. Deborah Harmon, an
EMU associate professor
of education, and
Derrick Jackson, chief deputy
clerk of
Washtenaw County, also received MLK Honor
Awards during the President's MLK Luncheon.
|
Jesse Campbell, a senior at Ypsilanti High School, was
the recipient of the Lee and Nora Martin Award.
Amber Morle, a junior at Lincoln High School; Alyssa Baron,
a sophomore at Willow Run High School; and Caleb Roberts,
a fifth-grader at Erickson Elementary; were the grand-prize
winners of the MLK Essay Writing Contest, which included
six other finalists from area elementary, middle and high
schools. Morle, Baron and Roberts will each receive a $100
U.S. savings bond for their essay. Their speeches were
entitled, "Freedom" "Equality" and "Making the World a
Better Place by Making a Difference," respectively.
"In the past, the contest was just for students in the
Ypsilanti School District. This year, we opened it up to
Willow Run and Lincoln high schools," said Charnessa Paige,
director of EMU's Center for Multicultural Affairs.
Ypsilanti District winners included: Marcie Angeli and
Patrick Good, first grade, Estabrook Elementary; Illana
Hall-Vit, second grade, Erickson Elementary; Trinity
Kelso, third grade, Erickson Elementary; and Chevaun Johnson,
fourth grade, Erickson Elementary.
The EMU Gospel Choir concluded the luncheon with EMU freshman
Aris Yancey leading the choir in a rousing rendition of
an old spiritual, "I've Been Born Again."
The University's MLK Day celebration concluded with an
Alpha Pi Alpha march (led by Vernon Polite, dean of the
College of Education) which started at the Student Center
bookstore, traversed campus to the MLK bust near Ford Hall
and back to the Student Center for an afterglow event.
Related events began Jan. 14.
