At the Youth March for Integrated Schools in 1959, Dr. Martin Luther 王 Jr. charged his audience with a great challenge. “Make a career of humanity. Commit yourself to the noble struggle for equal rights. You will make a better person of yourself, a greater nation of your country, and a finer world to live in.”
每年, the University of Redlands honors that challenge through events that embody the spirit of 王’s work and legacy. This week, groups at U of R are hosting a variety of impactful events on campus.
“So many individuals have gone before us and fought so that we can have a better quality of life,” Michelle Kanu, the assistant director of enrollment, 说. “The upcoming MLK events are an opportunity for us to pause and reflect on those efforts, and appreciate the time and sacrifice made by people like Dr. 王. 就像博士. 王 envisioned an environment where people of different backgrounds, 信条, and ethnicities could join hands and work together, these events reflect a collaborative effort of diverse organizations at U of R.”
上车
Through January 19, the Office of 社区 Service Learning and Armacost 图书馆 are hosting a 上车 Donation Drive, asking for donations of K-12 books, 颜色的书, 蜡笔, colored pencils, and pens to give to children visiting their incarcerated parents. The 上车 program aims to strengthen connections of families, both during and after incarceration, by bringing children throughout 加州 to visit their mothers and fathers in prison. 上车 hosts an annual event that offers the children free transportation, 旅行袋, and lunch with their parents.
1月16日, the U of R community can help make blankets for the children participating in the 上车 program. Director of 学生 Involvement & Success Erin Sanborn ’10, believes “making blankets and collecting supplies for youth who will visit and write letters to their incarcerated parents has been a tremendous way for U of R students to support the 上车 program.”
和平行走
The annual 和平行走, hosted by Black 学生s, 教师, 工作人员, Administrators, and 校友 Association (BSFSAA) and U of R 工作人员 Association (URSA), will begin at 11 a.m. on January 18 in front of the steps of the Administration Building. The U of R community will stand in solidarity and peace to reflect upon the legacy of 王 and the injustices currently happening around the globe.
“When the community gathers for the 和平行走,” Assistant Director of Enrollment Kay Thomas ’20 说, “it will be a physical representation of the days and times about which Dr. 王 dreamed and preached. Simply having the freedom to plan events, where people of all races, 性别, sexual orientation, economic and educational backgrounds can come together in unity and solidarity is 梦想.”
Leading up to the 和平行走, the U of R community can create posters in Hunsaker Center to express unrest or emotions they may feel and wish to express. Previous walks have ended the week with optimism and hope to grow and overcome adversity. Mikela比约克, professor and co-director of the Center for Educational Justice School of Education, 说 “there is so much injustice in the world — food injustice, environmental injustice, racial injustice, 残疾歧视, 性别歧视, 异性恋主义, settler colonialism. By bringing more attention to the difficult themes of injustice, we are able to make connections to how we are affected by them, how we contribute to them, and how we can help one another.”
To learn more about MLK week, 点击这里.
