For King Day, a Challenge to Vote and to Care

Photo credit: Tara-Lynne Pixley Andrew Gillum reminded students of the life of Fannie Lou Hamer.

Martin Luther King Jr.'s birthday was celebrated at Florida A&M University with a convocation that featured a FAMU alumnus, Tallahassee City Commissioner Andrew Gillum, urging students to vote and to accept personal responsibility for addressing social problems.

"Even when you think you've done all that you can, there's still much more," Gillum said.

"We don't have to battle the constant harassment, or blowing up of our homes," Gillum continued. "By what authority do we have to give up the right to vote?"

In his Jan. 15 speech, Gillum said that King's dream of equality was being made manifest through the growing rates of blacks entering college.

Reminding students of the many civil rights battles that were fought in the 1960s, Gillum shared the story of Fannie Lou Hamer, the Mississippi freedom fighter famous for her words, "I'm sick and tired of being sick and tired."

Voting rights were essentially unknown to African Americans in Mississippi when Hamer, born in 1917, was growing up. She was among the first African Americans to challenge Mississippi's voting registration practices. That led to her arrest, detention in a small-town jail and beatings so severe that she sustained injuries that eventually shortened her life.

As recounted in a biography by Kay Mills, Hamer is perhaps best known for a challenge that she and others leveled at the all-white Democratic delegation sent to the presidential convention in Atlantic City, N.J., in 1964.

The 1964 challenge failed, but in 1968 another one succeeded and Hamer was seated, along with others, at that year's presidential convention.

Students said they were inspired by Gillum's speech and were influenced by his message.

"I thought it was very inspiring," said Dana Jennings."I think his accomplishments are uplifting for the students and they give us something to look forward to as far as giving back to the community," said Jennings, a 21-year-old senior psychology student from Montgomery, Ala.

Octavias Daniels, an 18-year-old freshman political science student from Gainesville, Fla., said that attending the convocation motivated him to volunteer in the Tallahassee community and to encourage his peers to do the same.

"It inspired me to do more and give back to my community. I can start volunteering and putting service hours in at the residential neighborhoods in Tallahassee," Daniels said.

Shelly Stephens, a 20-year-old junior biology major from Columbia, S.C., felt that Gillum's call for students to do more was appropriate.

"That was good because a lot of students just come to FAMU then leave, instead of coming to make it better for the students that are here and those who are to come," said Stephens.

Gillum closed his message by encouraging students to look beyond perceived limitations and to constantly pursue the goal of making a lasting impact.

"All you need is a brain to think with, a heart to love and care with, and a will to make a difference," he said.

Danielle Lewis, a student at Florida A&M University, writes for The Famuan. She can be reached at [email protected]

Posted Jan. 17, 2004