Event honors King with speech and song
To set the mood for Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, USU’s Access and Diversity Center, along with the Black Student Union (BSU), facilitated this year’s annual candlelight vigil in honor of King’s life and legacy.
The event was stacked with artistic performances and included guest speaker Mark Flores – an essential element in the first vigil’s creation, and ended with a moment of silence while attendees stood in the night air on the Quad holding lit candles.
“It puts a good feeling in my heart that the U.S. is recognizing Martin Luther King (Jr.),” said BSU President Rica Molet. “It shows he stood up and made a change in the world. We are carrying on what he wanted us to do by reaching out to those who don’t know about him.”
The event, held in the TSC Ballroom, began with the recitation of from King’s “I Have a Dream” speech and was followed with a solo musical number by Shalayna Guisao who performed the black national anthem “Lift Every Voice.” Guisao, a freshman and vocal performance major, said whenever she sings this song she feels honored and accomplished.
“The words – they make me emotional,” she said. “I’m proud of my people and all of our accomplishments.”
Her solo was followed by BSU treasurer T.J. Pratt’s original monologue, “Antoine Goes to Church,” which recounts the 1968 16th Street Baptist Church bombing in Birmingham, Ala., from the perspective of a young boy.
USU’s Chamber Choir then performed a musical number which lead into Mark Flores’ speech. Rachel Brighton, program coordinator for the Multicultural Student Union, said Flores is a USU alumnus who initiated the candlelight vigil after Americans began observing the holiday in 1986.
“Who knows how many people he (Flores) has influenced through this event alone throughout the years,” Brighton said.
Flores is now a criminal defense attorney, and said that every day he aims to be the citizen King tried to teach the American people to be.
“I spend each day of my life advocating for justice,” Flores said. “I have not done enough, not nearly enough.”
Flores said King was not only an advocate for racial equality in U.S., but an advocate for equality to all people throughout the world. King believed that to uphold the freedoms of equality in the U.S., the American people needed to stand up to discrimination occurring outside of the country, he said.
Currently, minorities are prominent in the court systems, and the law keeping homosexuals from serving in the military has been lifted, he said. However, he said he is aware that there is more to be done.
“Every woman earns 78 cents on the dollar that a man earns for the same job … Liberals and Conservatives see each other as enemies,” Flores said.
He encouraged the audience to find ways in the community to reach out and improve the circumstances of others. His suggestions included working at a soup kitchen, talking to children about setting goals toward higher education and tutoring elementary and middle school students.
“If you and I rise up to this challenge people may speak about us one day the way we speak about him (King,)” Flores said.
Following Flores’ speech, attendees assembled outside of the TSC to light white candles and walk to the Quad together for a moment of silence. The group stood in silence and were encouraged to remember King’s impact on the U.S. and remember the blessings of equality.
Brighton said over the course of organizing this event she has read many of King’s philosophies and realized for the first time that his concept of a “beloved community” is attainable, and doesn’t require a “utopian” nation.
“What Dr. King stood for is the epitome of why I’ve been hired to do what I do,” Brighton said.
“He is the key inspiration for the work that I do – what inspires me most.”
– catherine.meidell@aggiemail.usu.edu