Speaker Dolphus Weary

SGA members, JSU President Ronald Mason, Jr., and Dolphus Weary sing 'We Shall Overcome'

From King to Obama. JSU remembers 'The Dreamer'

Annual celebration challenges students to serve

By: Vickey Williams

Posted: 1/23/09

Three days before the inauguration of Barack Obama as the first African-American president of the United States of America, Jackson State University students, faculty, staff and the surrounding community gathered in the Rose E. McCoy Auditorium to celebrate the life and works of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

The significance of the day was captured in the convocation's theme, "From King to Obama: New Challenges for the Twenty-First Century."

King, a prominent figure in the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s who has been immortalized in his famous, "I Have a Dream" speech, spent most of his life fighting for equality for African-Americans through nonviolence and civil disobedience.

Many participants believe that his dream has now been realized with the election of Obama as the 44th president of the United States.

"Dr. King's convocation was a chance for the JSU family to honor the past, celebrate the present and look forward to the future. Dr. King was 'the dreamer' while Obama is 'the dream," said Jasmine Love, a sophomore political science major from New Orleans, LA.

Miss JSU 2008-2009, Alicia Brumfield, challenged students to strive to be leaders like King by reaching their fullest potential.

"We should reflect on the spirit and essence of who Dr. King was and is," she said. "In order to reach greatness, one must learn how to serve, so I ask you, 'What kind of servant are you?"

The MADDRAMA performance troupe paid tribute to King and other great leaders in history with a dramatic skit, which demonstrated how African Americans have come along way since the 1960s. One of the memorable lines from the troupe echoed the day's theme: "We are the new thinkers of the dream, dedicated and determined, today's coming and tomorrow's challenges."

Convocation speaker Dr. Dolphus Weary, president of Mission Mississippi, told the audience that Dr. King and Obama shared the "yes, we can," ideals. Mission Mississippi is a racial reconciliation movement that encourages unity in the body of Christ across racial and denominational lines.

"We today can talk about freedom but when King lived, black folks were in bondage to a system and we have come a long way from then," said Weary, author of the book 'I Ain't Coming Back.

Weary said King did a lot for him and other Americans during the Civil Rights Movement.

"King took racism and race relations and put it on the agenda of the hearts of the American people and gave hope that said yes, you can make a difference," said Weary. "King dreamed for me so that I could dream for others."

In connecting what would have been the 70th birthday celebration of Dr. King with newly elected president Obama, Weary quoted Robert Kennedy on what some thought was a dream that would never come true.

"Things are moving so fast in race relations, a Negro can be president in the next 40 years," said Weary as he quoted Kennedy. "Sometimes we want everything right now but sometimes we have to dream, work on it, and allow someone else to make that dream come true," said Weary, referring to Kings dream being realized through Obama.

Weary also urged the audience to not allow anyone to deter them from their goals and beliefs. He stated that Obama is a great example of how people can do anything they set our minds to.

"None of us should accept the status quo. Yes we can," said Weary. "When other's say we can't, say 'Yes we can'!"

JSU student Aiysha Johnson said she enjoyed this year's celebration. "I attend the MLK ceremony each year and each year the speakers get better and better," said Johnson, a senior ethnic studies education major from Greenwood, Miss. "This year's speaker gave the people a double dose of hope like Barack Obama has."