MLK panel discusses justice, equity, and service

Antonio Machado / THE GATEPOST

By Sarah Daponde Interim Arts & Features Editor The Center for Inclusive Excellence (CIE) hosted a panel of FSU faculty and administrators to discuss the impacts of Martin Luther King Jr.’s teachings on their careers, identities, and personal lives on Feb. 18. The panel included Stephanie Logan, dean of education and social services; Vivian Okyere, access services librarian at the Henry Whittemore Library; Benjamin Day, director of the Framingham State Counseling Center; David Baldwin, director of Human Resources; and Tatiana Johnson-Boria, a visiting lecturer in the English department. Jerome Burke, director of the CIE, served as moderator for the event, which he called an “honor and a privilege. “We will explore Dr. King’s work and his personal impact in our communities and lives,” said Burke. Johnson-Boria said she recently reread King’s “Letter from Birmingham Jail,” and thought about how it impacted how she teaches. “I’m also a writer and an artist, so I think a lot of what his work has influenced me to do is figure out how to harness language in powerful ways,” she said. Baldwin said the first time he heard King’s “I Have a Dream” speech, he was deeply impacted, and has a picture hanging in his office with the speech written on the bottom, which he sees every morning. “I try to live to that hope of treating everyone with respect and kindness and compassion,” he added. Day said he did not think he would be where he is in life if not for the work King did. Okyere said King “didn’t knock all the walls down, but he punched a hole through, so I’m sitting here today, enjoying what he started.” King taught her to have empathy for others and the patience to move forward through life, she added. Logan said King taught her when a moment to make change opens up, it is important to “lean into it,” and step into the role. “So when the door opens, the path opens, and I’m given an opportunity, I lean in - because you never know,” Logan added. The panel shared their experiences with volunteer work, and how they make an effort to impact their community. Logan said King’s teachings about class inequality and her experience working in classrooms inspired her to donate her time at a local food pantry. “No one in this country should be hungry,” she added. Okyere said she tries to embrace others’ cultures and make everyone feel like they are included. She shared the quote, “The child who is not embraced by the village will burn it down to feel its warmth. “Create the community where they feel heard, they feel loved, they feel they can voice what is on their mind,” she added. Burke asked the panel what Framingham State should be doing as an institution to keep King’s legacy alive. Day said, “What kind of rights do you have if they can be taken away? … The struggle is forever. There is no retirement. There is struggle, and there is the need to always push, push, push.” As an institution, he said it is important to maintain principles and beliefs, even if they are challenged. Baldwin said, “We have a responsibility as an institution to not let the dream die.” He said it is important to educate students on the past so they understand “how we got to where we are today, and how we were able to combat things from the past.” Johnson-Boria said, as an institution, everyone should try to foster social awareness and have opportunities to protest for what they believe in. Logan said everyone has a role, no matter what it is, in fostering collectivism and creating change. She told everyone to “find their role.” Okyere agreed with Logan. “I alone cannot do it all, but like you said, if we all come collectively together … we are able to forcefully knock down everything.”