Martin Luther King Jr. continues to inspire and evoke change even 48 years after his death. This year marked the 17th Annual CSULB Celebration of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. organized by students and faculty on campus.
Associated Students Inc. along with the CSULB Black Faculty and Staff, the Multicultural Center, Department of American Indian Studies, and numerous other organizations all came together to celebrate this year’s theme of “Peace in Diversity: Creating a Culture of Change.”
Taylor Buhler-Scott is a program manager for the Associated Students Inc. at CSULB and has worked as committee chair for the CSULB Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. 17th Annual Celebration Committee. This is her first year organizing the MLK celebration, collaborating with the various organization on campus to put the event together..
“Every single person that stepped on this stage had an immense passion for Dr. King’s work and for the commitment to diversity in this world and peace in general,” Buhler-Scott said. “I think that it was very apparent to the whole audience how connected everyone here was to their message.”
President Jane Close Conoley attended the 17th Annual MLK celebration held this Tuesday. This is the first time in 17 years that a CSULB University President has participated in the annual MLK celebration, according to Keya Allen.
Allen has worked on the event since the early 90’s and is a CSULB alumni. She is one of the original organizers of the event and still helps planning and coordinating this event. Now, she is a full-time staff member on campus.
“It’s bigger. We started off downstairs in the Beach auditorium and every year it’s been different,” Allen said. “Out of 17seventeen years that I’ve been involved with this event, this is the first time that the university president spoke.”
President Conoley gave the welcome address for this year’s celebration. In the spirit of the event’s theme, Conoley expressed pride in the diversity found at CSULB.
“Here at the Beach I am especially grateful for our diversity,” Conoley said. “In fact, it is a badge of honor. We should always reflect on that and make sure that we are earning that badge of honor truly.”
President Conoley also encouraged conversation and debate here on campus.
“This must be a just campus,” Conoley said. “Let’s discuss controversial situations that are occurring on campus, across our nation, and around the world. Let’s do it with the intent to learn, and to create a more perfect Beach.”
Passion and pride could be seen on the faces of all who attended the event. Participants and attendees expressed their joy in their speeches, performances, and amongst friends.
“I believe every single person that came today brought their A-game,” Allen said.
CSULB alumni Charlie E. Scott III, who performs and writes under the pen name Philosophy, brought life to the stage with his spoken word poetry. His poetry addressed issues of racism, which is still apparent in the community today.
“The poems that I did today, they reflect what’s going on in our society,” Scott said. “What it does is it brings a mirror image up to what is happening right now in America with African-Americans and with all people. We need to start this dialogue where we’re just listening.”
Philosophy turned out to be a crowd favorite, especially among the kids from Renaissance High School.
“He really did his thing, and his tap dance moves, it was really good,” Donielle Hall said. “I felt happy and sad. This stuff actually does happen.”
Hall is a senior at Renaissance High School. This is Hall’s second year attending the celebration and her first year participating as a dancer in the celebration.