(Above) Over 100 students, faculty, staff, and community members marched in solidarity. Photo by Tonya Johnson, '02

On January 21, Bereans came together to celebrate the life of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. The celebration's theme "Reflecting, Reacting, Renewing" encouraged Bereans to think about how Dr. King's example is relevant to Berea. The day of celebration began with a worship service at Union Church, followed by a march to City Hall.

On the steps of City Hall, Berea Mayor Clifford Kerby welcomed marchers and thanked them for their participation. Berea College President Larry D. Shinn quoted Dr. King's description of the world as "a widely separated family (that) inherits a house in which they must all live together." "Can you imagine more appropriate words for our day, though this was written more than 30 years ago?" asked Dr. Shinn. "Martin Luther King, at his lowest moments, held hope for the future of the world house. Ultimately we must learn to live with all people-black and white, red and yellow, Muslim and Hindu, Christian and Jew. That is what we call the word that reaches to all people of the earth."

Best-selling author Michael Eric Dyson delivered the Martin Luther King, Jr. Day convocation speech. Freda Johnson, '03, appreciated Dyson's connecting popular culture to the continuing work on race relations. "He took things like rap music, which sometimes have a negative connotation, and turned them around to show how they can also be good methods of expression," says Johnson. "I could really relate to what he was saying because he related to students on our level."

(Above) Assistant professor of history Lori Brooks challenged the crowd at Berea City Hall to "attack injustice by doing right in the face of wrong."

Dyson's 1993 book, Reflecting Black: African-American Cultural Criticism, won the Gustavus Myers Center for Human Rights Award, and its 1994 follow-up, Making Malcolm: The Myth and Meaning of Malcolm X, was named Notable Book of 1994 by both The New York Times and The Philadelphia Inquirer. I May Not Get There With You: The True Martin Luther King, Jr. was published by the Free Press in January 2000.

(Above) Amanda Rockett, '04, enjoyed meeting noted author and MLK Day Convocation speaker Michael Eric Dyson, who signed his books for students, faculty, staff and community members.

At City Hall, Dr. Lori Brooks, assistant professor of history, reminded students, faculty, and staff not to be afraid of failure - a reminder that summed up the challenge of the day. "Change does not happen overnight," she said. "The challenge is to have courage and love, and to make yourself uncomfortable with injustice-uncomfortable enough to change yourself and others. So we can all be able to say that we are 'free at last' like King - not just one of us, not just our family, but our whole nation and our whole world."