Though offered entirely online and remotely through Zoom sessions, the college鈥檚 2021 Martin Luther King Jr. Day program still delivered its share of insight, criticism, and hope.
Here are a few quotes that capture important messages from the day.
鈥淚’ll never forget the shock I felt when Chris Wallace from Fox News asked, at the first presidential debate, 鈥榃hat does re-imagining policing look like?鈥� It marks an important moment that would have been inconceivable even last year: The rhetoric of Black Lives Matter protesters have made their way into the vocabulary of a Fox News journalist on a national debate stage.鈥�
鈥� Megan Ming Francis
Francis, a scholar at the University of Washington, offered this quote during a session on the value of social science research to racial justice. A political scientist, Francis researches American politics, looking at the intersection of racial violence and the Black freedom movement.
The shift in the national conversation, along with the rapid change in public opinion during 2020, toward broad support of Black Lives Matter, seems 鈥渟urreal,鈥� says Francis. 鈥淟et鈥檚 remember that in 2014, many white Americans thought it acceptable to debate the phrase 鈥楤lack Lives Matter.鈥欌��
鈥淭ruth inherently has value. In order to have shared understandings, we have to have some level of devotion to critically interrogate our own history and come to a set of truths that is reasonably representative.鈥�
鈥� Dylan Gyauch-Lewis 鈥�21 of Nashville, Tenn.
Gyauch-Lewis鈥� quote is from the annual Rev. Dr. Benjamin Elijah Mays, Class of 1920, Debate.
Featuring students from Morehouse College and 乐播传媒, the informal debate (no winners were declared) saw the students tackle the question of whether the House should “regret the portrayal of the Union in the Civil War as a morally righteous actor.鈥�
No regret was needed, said the Opposition: Regardless of the Union’s righteousness, it’s important to portray the Union in a kind of myth-making way to advance shared ideals and lessons about what it means to be an American. Gyauch-Lewis countered by saying that the pursuit of truth is more important than myth-making.
Supporting the motion were Daniel Edwards of Morehouse and Gyauch-Lewis 鈥�21 of 乐播传媒. Samuel Melcher 鈥�21 of New York City and Caleb Strickland of Morehouse College took the Opposition.
鈥淚 wasn’t a bit surprised. I truly had hoped that things had changed. And what I learned from the movie was that things haven’t changed that much.鈥�
鈥� Pamela Baker 鈥�69, Helen A. Papaioanou Professor Emerita of Biological Sciences
Baker offered this quote after a screening of the 2020 documentary Picture a Scientist, which depicts patterns of sexual harassment and discrimination as experienced by three generations of women scientists: a biologist, a chemist and a geologist.
The post-film discussion was multigenerational, including Baker other senior 乐播传媒 STEM faculty, plus three guests: a biochemist, cancer biologist, and a graduate student in astrophysics.
鈥淚 do feel more hopeful after I heard the three young women scientists on our panel,鈥� said Baker. 鈥淭hey still face challenges, but now they can talk about it. In the 鈥榦ld days鈥� we knew we’d better just keep our mouths shut because that’s just the way life was.鈥�
Baker reflected on her own experiences, including as a technician in a laboratory at the University of South Carolina Medical School. There she was harassed by her boss at the lab, who invited her to 鈥渄inner and dancing and whatever鈥� whenever her husband, David Baker 鈥�70, then in the Navy, was deployed.
鈥淚 was supposed to feel grateful,鈥� she assumed, since the man had given her responsibility in her job, but 鈥渋t was always very uncomfortable.鈥� As she went on to her own doctoral work, the discrimination and slights she faced included having a male colleague repeatedly leave her name left off papers she had co-authored, until she asked. 鈥淚t was good that he said yes, but a little weird that I had to ask.鈥�
鈥淭hings have changed somewhat. They haven鈥檛 changed enough. And just like what we鈥檙e seeing with race and white supremacy in this country, there are a lot of things that were underground, that were societal norms that you didn鈥檛 do as explicitly, that have been blown open. And you actually see it being much more open now in a lot of places.鈥�
鈥� Bonnie Shulman, Professor Emerita of Mathematics
During the panel, Schulman shared her own painful experiences with sexual harassment, including by a mathematician who preyed on her at a conference when she was young and just starting out in her academic career in mathematics.
鈥淜nowing that there were people being self-critical was satisfying. Honesty gets prospective students engaged.鈥�
鈥� Ryan Fisse 鈥�22 of Los Altos, Calif.
Attending a session that discusses how a predominantly white college like 乐播传媒 markets the college to prospective students, including BIPOC students, Fisse talked about being attracted to 乐播传媒 because of its 鈥渇ounded by abolitionists鈥� marketing.
As a student, he attended a Mount David Summit presentation led by Professor of History Joe Hall and students. There, he learned more about 乐播传媒鈥� early history, including that funding came from money Benjamin 乐播传媒 made from his mills, which prior to the Civil War used cotton grown by enslaved persons. He said he valued the fact that 乐播传媒 people were trying to tell a more complex story.
鈥淢aking this origin story that鈥檚 sort of mythified central to our marketing is disingenuous. It presents our diversity work as done. We know that鈥檚 wrong. Prospective students know that鈥檚 wrong.鈥�
鈥� Maddie Sirois 鈥�21 of Maplewood, N.J.
In the same session, Sirois, who is an Admission tour guide, says that emphasizing the college鈥檚 laudatory origin story in marketing materials has overshadowed, and can hinder, important, ongoing antiracism work at 乐播传媒, implying the work is done.
鈥淭he data urges us to rethink the 鈥榤antra鈥� that Maine is a white state. Maine is not so white. It is not when it comes to the contribution of communities of color to Maine鈥檚 economy and culture. It is certainly not when it comes to COVID-19.鈥�
鈥� Professor Emerita of Politics Leslie Hill
Maine has the in the nation: BIPOC people make up around 2 percent of the state鈥檚 population, yet have represented almost a quarter of coronavirus cases.
The MLK Day session 鈥淩acial Disparity, Structural Violence and COVID-19 in Maine鈥� looked at the resilience, innovation, and resource-pooling that BIPOC communities in Maine are displaying in the difficult battle again the pandemic.
The program was organized by the Program in Gender and Sexuality Studies.
鈥淏rigade, because we鈥檙e warriors carrying out a mission of getting direct access and control of resources and bringing them to our community.鈥�
鈥� Crystal Cron, a community health worker and health justice activist
Cron is president of Presente! Maine, an organization that assesses and responds to the needs of immigrant communities, particularly the Latinx community, which represents a majority of the seafood processing and agricultural workforce in Maine.
Her quote refers to the action last spring, as grocery store shelves emptied, of creating a food brigade to serve her community. It began with just rice and beans and grew to a distribution of more than 15,000 pounds of fresh food weekly, and to helping the community grow 25,000 pounds of its own food.
鈥淚t’s empowering and exhausting and infuriating at once,鈥� said Cron. 鈥淲e’re taking our survival into our own hands. But then, why must we do this when there’s practically endless resources that can be used to make sure our needs are met?鈥�
鈥淚 think 乐播传媒 has a habit of being the first to speak about anti-Blackness when it happens in the nation, but they refuse to address the trauma that they have caused students. And the form of trauma you鈥檙e putting us through is anti-Blackness. And the fact that 乐播传媒 was built off of anti-blackness: Where do you think the money came from? That came from Black pain and Black trauma. And the exploitation of Black bodies. And if 乐播传媒 doesn鈥檛 acknowledge this, and that we鈥檙e still exploited, as students of color and athletes, then how can 乐播传媒 address their anti-Blackness?鈥�
鈥� Sam Jean-Francois 鈥�23 of Everett, Mass.
Jean-Francois spoke during the annual Sankofa event. Typically featuring performance, this year鈥檚 session was a 75-minute conversation centered on Blackness in America, particularly in the aftermath of the insurrection.
Jean-Francois and others spoke to the personal and shared struggles Black students experience at 乐播传媒. The distinction between the virtuous origin story so often told, of abolitionists founding the college, and the more recently examined, more authentic one, connecting the money from mill owners like Benjamin 乐播传媒 directly to the labor of enslaved people, has been part of the broader conversation at 乐播传媒 in the last year.
鈥淵ou see videos of these terrorists saying, 鈥榊ou don鈥檛 treat us like this. You’re treating me like I鈥檓 Black Lives Matter.鈥� So to be Black, you鈥檙e already considered a terrorist. Your whole being is anti-establishment.鈥�
鈥� Areohn Harrison 鈥�20 of Rockville, Md.
Harrison鈥檚 quote calls out the Capitol mob鈥檚 blatant hypocrisy, representing itself as a band of patriots, and noted the trauma of being Black in a country primed to presume the worst about you.
His quote also spoke to a broad consensus among the Sankofa group: the entitlement of a predominantly white, Trump-supporting mob as it attacked the Capitol, and how disgraceful (but unsurprising) it was to witness the dazed response of outnumbered and unprepared law enforcement. That lackluster response was in sharp contrast to the massive armed and armored forces regularly mustered for peaceful Black Lives Matter protests in 2020.
鈥淵es, it鈥檚 great to celebrate MLK, and yes, the holiday is needed to bring to light the work of Malcolm X, Angela Davis, and so many other folks. But also, we have to focus on the fact that the U.S. only celebrates him now that he no longer has breath in his body.鈥�
鈥� Akira Townes 鈥�17 of Cockeysville, Md.
Townes was describing the frustration of the U.S. historically failing to acknowledge the value of BIPOC folks 鈥渦ntil they鈥檙e no longer here.鈥�
Townes, a graduate student in public health at the University of Washington, made the observation during a Q&A period in the workshop 鈥淓xploring the History and Meaning of MLK Day, 鈥� a session that used a sociological lens to understand the importance of the holiday, the ritual and traditions involved, and controversies or conflicts surrounding the way the day is celebrated.
Georgia Southern University sociologist Chad Posick joined 乐播传媒 sociologists Emily Kane, Benjamin Moodie, and Michael Rocque on the panel.
![A mural on the wall of row houses in Philadelphia depicts, from left, Malcolm X, Ella Baker, Martin Luther King Jr., and Frederick Douglass. The quote, "We who believe in freedom cannot rest," is from Ella Baker. The mural artist is Parris Stancell. (Tony Fischer [CC BY 2.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.)], via Wikimedia Commons)](/news/files/2019/01/undcropped-Mural_Malcolm_X_-_Ella_Baker_-_Martin_Luther_King_-_Frederick_Douglass-1.jpg)
鈥淚f we鈥檙e going to compare it to a 100-meter race, I don鈥檛 know how many meters the movement has really taken us.鈥�
鈥� Jacob Iwowo 鈥�23 of London
A panelist for a program led by students in the course 鈥�#BlackLivesMatter,鈥� taught by Visiting Assistant Professor of Africana Cassandra Shepard, Iwowo responded to a question from 乐播传媒 President Clayton Spencer.
She asked, 鈥淲hat do you think of as the distinctive power of the way the Black Lives Matter movement is organized, perhaps as compared with the earlier era of the civil rights movement, and are you optimistic that this is a moment of breakthrough?鈥�
Iwowo, who had shared information on economic inequality as the underlying driver of the Black Lives Matter movement, said while he didn鈥檛 want to be 鈥淎fro-pessimistic,鈥� he questions the relative significance of the current movement within the historical context of centuries of oppression.
鈥淣ot to say that the work that has been done hasn’t been amazing, and that it isn’t great to see the support, but, our presentations today are specifically about the systematic issues that are at play. And some of those systematic yardsticks need to be moved in order to call Black Lives Matter a breakthrough, in my mind.鈥�
Another panelist, Mohamed Diawara 鈥�23 of Philadelphia, who had led a discussion on racial justice and the criminal justice system, jumped in first by focusing on the differences between the two movements, beginning with the concrete example of technology.
Media coverage of protests and violence against protesters was extensive in the 1960s, but 鈥渁 lot of stuff had to go through newspapers, radio, or word of mouth,鈥� he said. 鈥淢aybe it took longer to get around, or the severity of maybe wasn’t perceived how it should have been perceived at the time.鈥�
Today, 鈥渟omeone can record what happens and you see it instantly.鈥�
鈥淲hat Black Lives Matter also provides that I think is maybe a little bit different is more gendered justice鈥�. and making a visible space for LGBTQ folk to be able to be more at the forefront of the movement.鈥�
鈥淚 would deem that the Black Lives Matter movement is an awakening for a lot of young people. It’s a call to action for young and old; it seems to be bridging generations.”
鈥� Visiting Assistant Professor of Africana Cassandra Shepard
Shepard offered a third answer to Spencer’s question, delving into another dimension of difference between the two movements, including 鈥渕aybe a little bit different is more gendered justice鈥�. and making a visible space for LGBTQ folk to be able to be more at the forefront of the movement.鈥�
