By now, college campuses are beginning to plan their commemoration of the life and work of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. From a one-day celebration to a week of activities, King Day has become a significant event on practically every college campus in the nation. There will be speakers and banquets, service projects and film screenings, not just to remind the campus and broader community about King’s life and work, but to hopefully inspire us to pursue the beloved community King described.
As a native of Atlanta, King Day has always had a special meaning for me. I have modeled my time as an HBCU president after Dr. Benjamin Mays who was King’s president at Morehouse. He was more than his president but a mentor and friend, so much so that he delivered the eulogy at King’s funeral. I grew up having a chance to not only meet but engage with some of King’s closest comrades in the fight for civil rights. Joseph Lowery was my pastor for six years at Cascade United Methodist Church and helped us launch our social justice focus at Philander Smith College. I lived about a mile away from Andrew Young. I remember having dinner with John Lewis after he spoke at the Clinton School but had often seen him as he was my Congressman in Atlanta.
Dr. Walter M. Kimbrough
Over the years one of the most important engagements, I accept each year is a King Day speech. But over the years I have watched the continued devaluation of the man and his message. More specifically, on many campuses today King celebrations are nothing more than rehashing the same few quotations, while ignoring the cost that King says we must pay to achieve change.
So I have decided King Day 2024 is cancelled.
