On Monday,\u00a0Jan.\u00a019, the nation celebrated the memory of Dr. Martin Luther King\u00a0Jr.\u00a0(MLK.)\u00a0The following day, the University of Texas at El Paso\u00a0(UTEP)\u00a0hosted its fourth annual MLK Day event\u00a0at\u00a0the Natural Gas Conference Center.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
The event was hosted by\u00a0Student Engagement and Leadership Center (SELC)\u00a0Assistant\u00a0Director Stephanie\u00a0Lawler, who\u00a0opened the\u00a0program with the\u00a0civil rights anthem\u00a0\u201cLift Every Voice and Sing.\u201d\u00a0The\u00a0ceremony focused on reflection,\u00a0education\u00a0and community engagement, featuring\u00a0two guest speakers and a musical performance\u00a0by\u00a0the UTEP Jazz Quintet.\u00a0<\/p>\n
For attendees such as criminal justice and security studies lecturer Creslan Williams, the event served as a prelude to Black History Month, which begins in February.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI think\u00a0it\u2019s\u00a0important to\u00a0teach\u00a0young people of all races to stand up for themselves.\u00a0I\u2019m\u00a0a member of a historically black fraternity,\u00a0Phi\u00a0Beta Sigma Fraternity Incorporated. We just had our Founders Day in January, so it\u00a0kind of ties\u00a0in,\u201d\u00a0Williams\u00a0said. \u201cI always try to support things here at the university, sometimes we get so caught up in teaching and events like this let us interact with not only students but other members of the faculty and staff.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
The event\u00a0provided\u00a0an\u00a0opportunity for the El Paso and UTEP community to\u00a0reflect on\u00a0the messages and\u00a0legacy\u00a0of Dr. King and the civil rights movement.\u00a0Lawler\u00a0then\u00a0introduced the first speaker, Brandon Render, director of UTEP\u2019s African American Studies Department.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u00a0Render\u00a0offered a historian\u2019s perspective on\u00a0MLK\u00a0day, focusing on the distinction between historical facts and historical memory,\u00a0which served as\u00a0a common theme for the day\u2019s speakers.\u00a0<\/p>\n
In his speech, Render discussed his \u2018love, hate\u2019 relationship with the federal holiday.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThere are a lot of students that think the civil rights movement was Martin Luther King Jr., but what I tell students is that he was only a part of the movement,\u201d Render said.\u00a0\u201cWe can learn from all those people, their stories and how they were involved in the struggle for civil rights throughout black history.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
Render encouraged the audience to explore beyond the easily googleable quotes and surface level narrative that often dominates the public\u2019s memory of Dr.\u00a0King;\u00a0which sometimes stops at\u00a0his\u00a0most famous\u00a0\u201cI have a dream,\u201d speech.\u00a0Overlooking\u00a0the\u00a0evolution of that dream and\u00a0shifting politics.\u00a0<\/p>\n
After Render\u2019s\u00a0speech,\u00a0Lawler welcomed the UTEP Jazz quintet led by director Abel Mieles. The group performed \u201cAlabama\u201d a piece composed by John Coltrane and inspired by King\u2019s speech at the funeral for the four young women killed in the 1963 bombing of the 16th\u00a0\u00a0Street\u00a0Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u00a0The ceremony concluded with the second speaker, Janace Griffin, president and founder of the El Paso Black Arts Association. Griffin\u2019s speech, entitled\u00a0\u201cDr.\u00a0King Dreamed So That We Could Be Woke Today\u201d\u00a0confronts the harsh and dark realities of U.S.\u00a0history and ongoing injustice while arguing for her audience not to carry King\u2019s dream as a burden,\u00a0but as fuel to build a better future.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Closing her speech with a call to action,\u00a0she urged\u00a0the audience to let MLK day be more than a reflective celebration: to be\u00a0\u201cwoke,\u201d\u00a0take accountability and actively continue King\u2019s legacy of justice,\u00a0equality\u00a0and collective progress.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s not all\u00a0about just\u00a0him being a part of the civil rights movement.\u00a0A lot of people were part of the civil rights movement.\u00a0You know?\u201d Griffin said.\u00a0\u201cWhat are you doing now moving forward?\u00a0How are you engaging with your community?\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
Finishing off her allotted time before the crowd was released to the waiting \u2018soul food\u2019 buffet, Griffin delivered a spirited rendition of Nikki Giovanni\u2019s poem \u201cEgo Tripping.\u201d Dancing and laughing as she brought the poem\u2019s hyperbolic imagery and playful confidence to life.\u00a0<\/p>\n
After the ceremony, Griffin restated her original call to action.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cYou young folks, y\u2019all have the energy and y\u2019all have the voice, and y\u2019all can wake up, you just can\u2019t be lulled back to sleep.\u201d Griffin said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Reminding those attending that while history has shaped the present, it\u00a0doesn\u2019t\u00a0need to define it. A reminder to carry that energy and optimism into the month and year ahead.\u00a0<\/p>\n