新澳彩开奖结果

新澳彩开奖结果 Celebrates MLK with Black Lives Matter Co-Founder Opal Tometi

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With a keynote event in Memorial Chapel on Jan. 30, Black Lives Matter co-founder Opal Tometi helped 新澳彩开奖结果 close its 10-day commemoration of Martin Luther King Jr.

Tometi established Black Lives Matter alongside Alicia Garza and Patrisse Cullors to fight racial discrimination and violence against black communities following the 2013 acquittal of George Zimmerman in the murder of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin.

鈥淚 wanted all black people to know that [George Zimmerman鈥檚] acquittal did not mean that their lives didn鈥檛 matter,鈥 Tometi said in her keynote, which included a Q&A session with students, moderated by Visiting Assistant Professor of History T. Dionne Bailey and Taylor Dumas 鈥20.

Tometi鈥檚 appearance, sponsored by the ALANA Cultural Center, was the final event in an extensive celebration that began with an opening ceremony on Jan. 20, featuring Thomas Bennet 鈥72, board member of the National Abolition Hall of Fame in Peterboro, N.Y., and Christian Johns 鈥20, co-president of SGA and this year鈥檚 student keynote speaker.

Bennet spoke about the abolitionist movement and its roots in central New York, urging the community to remember the histories of extraordinary abolitionists, to 鈥渃elebrate the light and vision of MLK,鈥 and to strive for a 鈥渂eloved community.鈥 Johns urged the 新澳彩开奖结果 community to consider that, 鈥淚n this world that can be so cruel and unyielding, we have to love each other to the best of our ability.鈥 

The ceremony also featured performances by Grace Darko 鈥22, Juan Saenz 鈥20, and Assistant Director of the ALANA Cultural Center Esther Rosbrook. Rosbrook and Saenz performed the song 鈥淟ean on Me,鈥 by Bill Withers, inviting the audience to join in on the singing and ending the production with the entire crowd taking part in the shared revelry. 

During the course of the next week and a half, students, staff, and faculty participated in the MLK Day of Service, a program hosted by the Max A. Shacknai COVE. They attended brown-bag conversations on topics such as 鈥淐ommunity Accountability鈥 at the Center for Women鈥檚 Studies as well as 鈥淭he Barriers People of Color Must Overcome to Thrive at a PWI鈥 and 鈥淭he Privilege of Self Care鈥 at the ALANA Cultural Center. They enjoyed a Unity Dinner to reflect on how faith, service, and identity intersect and align with MLK鈥檚 vision.

Gathered together in Memorial Chapel on Day 10, reflecting on the experiences of the week, community members heard Tometi鈥檚 call to take action in fighting for marginalized communities.

鈥淏lack Lives Matter is continuing the work of our ancestors,鈥 Tometi said. 鈥淭here is no such thing as a post-racial society. I feel like I do not have a choice but to do something. It is one thing to say or tweet something, but what are you actually doing?鈥