THE BEST WAY TO HONOR DR. KING

In the wise words of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., “Those who love peace must learn to organize as effectively as those who love war.” 

So, to switch things up for MLK Day in 2020, what if we looked at ways in which we can apply that piece of wisdom to make social progress?

On Tuesday, Jan. 14, Khalid el-Hakim, founder and curator of the Black History 101 Mobile Museum that also stopped at the Gresham campus this week, came to share how students can do just that.

He was joined by Professor Griff, member of the revolutionary hip-hop group Public Enemy and a lecturer and writer on social issues.

Where does a person start to actually make an impact? Education is the first step. Many of us have read a letter or speech written by King. During the lecture, el-Hakim asked the audience to raise a hand if they had ever read one of King’s books. A few people raised their hands, but even fewer people had actually read one of the full books he wrote himself.

Reading those speeches and letters is an amazing step toward a basic understanding of systematic racism and how it affects U.S. society. However, a fuller understanding of these systems will help Americans actually pursue and achieve a less racially divided country.

There are two other immediate actions we can take to achieve a more just and peaceful state of living, the MHCC audience was told. 

The first is to have discussions in which we share our “healing truth” with others. Healing truth is defined as the integration of personal experiences, facts, and social truths to acknowledge and eventually heal from wrongdoings and hardships. 

According to a 2019 study by Pew Research Center, only 58% of adults surveyed believed that racial relations in the U.S. were generally bad. Whether this is because of denial or a lack of attention, we still have to be prepared to take our understanding of systematic racism and our personal experiences and walk into an honest conversation with that 42%, the audience was told. We have to keep talking about it until it is no longer an issue.

The second immediate action we can take to eradicate injustices that are the outcome of racial tension is to actively join organizations near us that work against it. Are you going into a career that offers a group (organization) to stop any discrimination from happening? If so, are you willing to put the effort in to join that group and do your part to actively combat racism? If not, can you ask why it does not exist? Can you start it up yourself? 

At the end of the day, we have to ask ourselves what we know about racism and racial tensions in the United States. And then we have to ask what we can do about it.