By Catherine Collins<\/p>\n
A documentary and guest speaker will commemorate the\u00a0 birthday of civil rights leader Martin Luther King, Jr., on Jan. 31 on Hood\u2019s campus.<\/p>\n
A film called \u201cAt the River I Stand,\u201d which chronicles the summer of 1968, specifically the sanitation workers\u2019 strike inMemphis,Tenn.and King\u2019s assassination, will be screened at 12:30 p.m. inWhitakerCampusCenter.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis film fleshes out the story of aMemphissanitation worker and his co-workers and how Dr. King’s resilience and tenacity gave them strength to overturn the debilitating economic structure of their hometown and eventually the South as a whole,\u201d said Dr. Kiran Chadda, director of multicultural affairs and international student programs.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Hood community has much to gain from viewing this film,\u201d Chadda said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe, too, are a \u2018melting pot\u2019 of cultures on campus and must continue to accept everyone for who they are regardless of where they came from or what economic strata they belong to or what traditions they believe in,\u201d she continued.<\/p>\n
Later in the afternoon, Dr. Peter Levy, professor of history atYorkCollege, will give a lecture entitled \u201cThe Dream Deferred: The Assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. and the Holy Week Uprising of 1968.\u201d<\/p>\n
Levy\u2019s talk, which will take place at 6:30 p.m. inWhitakerCampusCenter, will examine the nation\u2019s reaction to King\u2019s death in 1968, and will focus on specific events inBaltimore.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo many of us have seen footage of Dr. King’s \u2018I Have A Dream\u2019 speech, or the March on Washington in 1963, or the Bloody Sunday March from Salma to Montgomery Alabama in 1965, but not many people are aware of what happened after his death and how ordinary men used his principles and tactics to incite change in major cities,\u201d Chadda said.<\/p>\n
She added. that the inclusion of local historical events will make the lecture even more interesting and relevant for students.<\/p>\n
\u201cHatred and violence have not been completely eradicated and have only worsened in the past decade with genocides, terrorism, and hate crimes,\u201d Chadda said. \u201cThe present day generation must take a stand against these toxic acts and rally for the good of all, just as Dr. King’s followers did during the days immediately following his death.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"