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Students Fight King Day Complacency

Photo credit: D.C. Public Library Mural at the Martin Luther King Library in Washington, where a coalition gathers annually to feed and clothe the homeless.

By Karen Brundidge
Black College Wire

The Martin Luther King holiday was intended by Congress to "serve as a time for Americans to reflect on the principles of racial equality and nonviolent social change" that King espoused.

According to students at Howard University, the day is seen as important, but not everyone puts it to good use.

"Martin Luther King Day is an opportunity to reflect on the accomplishments and sacrifices of African Americans in general and one man in particular, and I think it's a shame that we don't do more to observe it," said junior mechanical engineering major Earl Fitzhugh.

Born in 1929, King is one of the most famous and influential leaders in black history. He received national attention and respect during the Montgomery Bus Boycott. In 1968 in Memphis, King gave his "I've been to the mountaintop" speech, and he was assassinated the next day. He is buried at what is now the Martin Luther King Jr. National Historic Site in his hometown of Atlanta.

"It's a day to celebrate him and the whole civil rights movement and what it accomplished," said Lily Doxy, a sophomore legal communications major, said of the holiday.

Students such as Erin Ferguson, a junior political science major, agree that more could be done to honor King. "In keeping with black complacency, most people are regarding it as just a day off, and I am a product of it as well."

Organizations on Howard's campus have put together activities that allow students to help serve their communities that day. The Beta Chapter of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc. plans to participate in community service activities.

Chequan Lewis pointed out that King was not just important because he was a member of the same fraternity.

"Dr. King stood for civil disobedience and nonviolent protests all in the name of creative civil rights, a role that cannot be glorified enough," Lewis said. "If it were not for him, I shudder to think what race relations would be like."

A community-based coalition of many individuals and organizations came together in Washington in 1988 to try to help feed and clothe the homeless. We Feed Our People takes place annually in front of the downtown Martin Luther King Library. Omega Psi Phi Fraternity usually participates.

Also, the Howard University Community Association plans to join a community service project at Roosevelt High School to improve the facilities of local schools.

"Everybody can be great. . . . because anybody can serve," King said. "You don't have to have a college degree to serve. You don't have to make your subject and verb agree to serve. You only need a heart full of grace. A soul generated by love."

Karen Brundidge, a student at Howard University, writes for The Hilltop.

Posted Jan. 14, 2004