By Michael Hutchins Herald Democrat
Visions of a unified country no longer burdened by the weight of racial divides filled Austin College’s Ida Green Communication Center Monday as students and community members gathered in celebration of Martin Luther King Jr Day.
Austin College held its annual celebration for the life of the famed civil rights leader Monday with speeches delivered by students and community members on the impact King and his legacy had on their lives. This year’s theme focused on the spirit of youth and education in the quest for equality.
“Wow,” Jimmy Petty said prior to his keynote speech. “What a great collection of cultures, colors and people. It is probably what Dr. King envisioned on some of his efforts.”
King, a Baptist minister, rose to fame in the 1950s and 1960s as a leader in the growing civil rights movement. In his role as a civil rights leader, King was involved in many protests and efforts aimed at racial equality in the U.S. including the 1955 Montgomery bus boycott. In 1963, he helped lead the March on Washington, where he delivered his famous “I have a dream” speech.
King was shot and assassinated on April 4, 1968 in Memphis while standing on the balcony of a motel room by James Earl Ray.
Efforts to memorialize King with a federal holiday began in the decade that followed his death. President Ronald Reagan signed a bill that formally recognized Martin Luther King Day in November 1983.
This year’s celebration at Austin College featured a student keynote speech by Rebecca Osei, who is a senior studying public health while minoring in nonprofit organizations public service. For her speech Osei focused on the efforts needed to bring a dream — much like the ones King had — from concept to reality.
“Before he shared that dream of the world, it was in idea in his head,” she said. “His idea of racial equality was shared by oppressed people that looked like Dr. King, but most people thought that racial equality was an unattainable goal in the U.S.”
King’s dream reminded Osei of a dream she helped bring to reality last year through a student service project. Osei previously wanted to learn about gardening when she was a young child, but was unable to do so due to limited resources. However, for her service project, Osei wanted to ensure that students at Dillingham elementary would have that ability through a school community harden.
Osei said taking the idea from concept to reality challenged her and led her to step outside her comfort zone. It also led her to grow as she needed to learn new skills in order to help the garden succeed.
“My idea also needed fertilizer and compost,” she said. “The fertilizer was learning skills like making a lesson plan because the club has to align to the educational goals of the school. I needed to identify what subjects would be covered and plan club sessions around that. The compost was brushing up on my math skills to calculate how much soil we needed and create a budget sheet to track our expenses.”
Like Osei, King also ran into hurdles while seeking racial justice and equality. However, when he hit opposition he persisted and continued to push through the adversity, she said.
“When I say I have a dream, it means I have a clear image of something, and I have a clear vision on a variety of things,” she said. “… To grow that dream into something more, you have to take action or it is never going to leave your mind.”
This year’s keynote speech was given by Jimmy Petty, who has served as the Grayson County Veterans Service officer since 2010. Petty also is a founding member and current member of Grayson County Veterans Treatment Court board of directors.
For his speech, Petty drew comparisons between King’s efforts to better himself and his community to those of his own grandfather.
“What we do here today is not to worship Dr. King, but we do acknowledge the impact of his leadership on our nation and the impact of the leadership around the world,” he said. “What we do here today continues the conversation about it, the never ending conversation about freedom, the quest for freedom.”
Petty said his grandfather dropped out of school at age 12 in order to become a full-time caretaker for his mother. Petty continued this role for nearly a decade, but returned to finish his education at age 22.
At the age of 26, Petty’s grandfather graduated from high school. He continued to pursue his own education by going on to college where he ultimately earned a master’s degree. From there, he went on to become an itinerant country teacher and Baptist minister.
Petty said his grandfather was able to achieve these goals despite these setbacks due to determination, a trait that he shared with the civil rights leader.
“In the 1950s and 1960s, America watched as that same spirit of determination was displayed by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.,” Petty said. “He endured unconscionable hardships: hungry nights, relentless schedules, brutal beatings, frequent incarceration, unjustifiable name calling, being spat on and even called the fool by members of his own race and members of those who hated him. Nevertheless, Dr. King never gave up on the continued pursuit of his dream of freedom for all African Americans, but also for all Americans.”
Petty urged the many high school and college students who were in attendance to continue King’s legacy. It will be up to this generation to continue the fight and struggle for racial equality that was started many years ago, he said.
“I am also here to say that my generation’s ability to affect change in this world is fading fast,” he said. “… Therefore, usrge you who are now standing at the door of opportunity, I urge you to hold a torch on freedom’s path and continue to hold the torch of freedom very high. Continue the journey for equal opportunity that Dr. King and others demonstrated. America needs you. America needs you, young people. We need you. Take hold of the mantle that Dr. King left for us.”
