More than a day: MLK audience challenged to live out ideals
February 08, 2023
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Chris Ford and Sounds of Redemption sing at Trine University’s 31st annual Dr. Martin
Luther King Jr. and Black History Month Celebration. (Photo by Parker Pelletier)
The theme resonated throughout the evening: The best way to celebrate the life and
legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. is to support and live out his ideals daily.
“As worthy as he is of a day in his honor, I don’t think he gave his life for a holiday,”
keynote speaker Raphael Bosley, LMHC, said at Trine University’s 31st annual Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Black History Month Celebration, held Friday,
Feb. 3.
Sponsored by the university’s Multicultural Student Organization, the annual event
included student readings reflecting both on King’s legacy and the progress, or lack
thereof, in carrying out his dream today.
Niyoki Chapman, music minister at Union Baptist Church in Fort Wayne, and Chris Ford
and Sounds of Redemption, provided uplifting music for the event, including an up-tempo
rendition of “We Shall Overcome” that also included the hundreds in attendance at
the T. Furth Center for Performing Arts.
Embracing Dr. King’s words
Richard Hickman, welcoming those assembled to the city of Angola for the last time
as its mayor, said that although he believes Dr. King would be disappointed at the
racism still present in the United States, he also believes Dr. King would have been
positive about the nation’s future.
“The reason I think he would have been positive is simply because of events like this
happening every year at this time. The only thing is, we need to remember, 364 other
days of the year, what it’s taken to get to this point,” Hickman said to audience
applause.
Trine University President-Elect John Shannon, Ph.D., welcomed those in attendance
to the university. Quoting Dr. King, he said, “Every nation must now develop an overriding
loyalty to humankind as a whole, in order to preserve the best in their individual
societies.”
“We can do what Dr. King was suggesting, if we don’t just hear those words, but fully
embrace them — embrace their content in our hearts,” Shannon said.
A daily choice
Chris Ford and Sounds of Redemption sing at Trine University’s 31st annual Dr. Martin
Luther King Jr. and Black History Month Celebration. (Photo by Parker Pelletier)
Bosley, a professional counselor as well as associate minister at Greater Progressive
Baptist Church in Fort Wayne, challenged those in attendance to make sure King’s work
was not in vain.
To do so, he said, we must first make a daily choice to leave the world a better place
than it was when we arrived.
“That’s what Dr. King did: He left the world better than he found it,” Bosley said.
“And it’s up to us to leave the world better than he gave it to us.”
He cautioned those in attendance not to absolve themselves of responsibility for making
a difference by making Dr. King larger than life.
“Dr. King was an ordinary man who made a daily decision to do something extraordinary,”
he said, “and I’m saying to you: You can make a decision like Dr. King every single
day to do something extraordinary.”
We also have to be courageous and committed to change, Bosley said.
“When you make the decision to stand up, everyone will not be happy,” he said. “But
you’ve got to make it your business right away that, despite what comes my way, I’m
going to stick it out.”
In addition to courage and commitment, Bosley said carrying out Dr. King’s legacy
requires compassion.
“When we hear the experience of someone else’s suffering, it should tug at our heart
to go out and do something,” he challenged the audience. “We will listen to people
complain, but what we refuse to do is do the work necessary to help rescue them.”
Working together
In closing, Bosley said we must all work together for positive change.
“This isn’t a Black or white thing. This is a humanity thing,” he said. “Yes, we’re
here celebrating Dr. King, one of our favorite figures, but what I know to be true
is that he did not do it alone. It took a community. And the community wasn’t just
Black individuals, but it was all nationalities, fighting for one cause, and that’s
for the world to be better.”
The program closed with thanks and remarks by Deborah McHenry, executive director
of student affairs at Trine University and advisor for the Multicultural Student Organization,
and a final musical selection by Niyoki Chapman, Chris Ford and Sounds of Redemption.
Larry Garatoni, Board President of Career Academy Network of Public Schools, an Education One Charter School Network, has been appointed to the Indiana Commission for Higher Education, as announced by Governor Eric J. Holcomb in June.
The Trine University Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) is hosting their second annual car show on Saturday, Sept. 14, from noon to 5 p.m. This event will take place in the Best Hall parking lot across from the T. Furth Center for Performing Arts.