2022 LSU Gumbo - Book - Page 103
LSU students, faculty, and staff wrapped up this year’s
commemorative celebration of Martin Luther King Jr. on
Jan. 18 with a guest speaker event and day of service.
The celebration ended early this year with multiple
event cancellations due to COVID-19 concerns.
Hundreds of Baton Rouge volunteers, LSU students, and
staff picked up trash, cleaned churches, and more on Jan.
17 as a part of volunteers’ and the Office of Multicultural
Affairs’ efforts to make the civil rights leader’s celebration a
“day on, not off.”
Members of LSU’s Black Male Leadership Initiative
and the Nu Iota chapter of the Kappa Alpha Psi fraternity
shoveled gravel and painted the House of Refuge building
on Plank Road.
Students and faculty gathered in the Student Union
Theater on Jan. 18 to listen to a presentation from David
Dennis Sr., a civil rights activist best known for his
participation in the first Freedom Ride from Montgomery,
Alabama, to Jackson, Mississippi, in 1961.
As a freshman at Dillard University, Dennis stumbled
upon a rally organized by the Congress of Racial Equality
Corps, established in 1942, to protest segregation in public
settings.
Though he initially wasn’t interested, Dennis eventually
became infatuated with the movement, participating in sitins and most famously, the Freedom Rides— long bus rides
White and Black civil rights activists took across the South.
To prepare for the Freedom Rides, Dennis rode to
Montgomery, Alabama, where he met civil rights leaders,
including King. Arrested over 30 times for protesting for
equality, Dennis dedicated a lifetime to fighting for civil
rights in the South, especially in Louisiana and Mississippi.
“Young people—some of them your age sitting out
here—were saying ‘If we gotta die, this is worth dying for,
because we can’t stop now,’” Dennis said.
Michelle Carter, Executive Director of the Office of
Multicultural Affairs, also spoke.
“Today, we honor Dr. Martin Luther King, but also all
other freedom fighters whose names we will never know,”
Carter said. “He coupled faith and action to fight for those
who often felt voiceless.”
Jane Cassidy, Interim Vice President of Civil Rights &
Title IX, shared a quote from King and said she wants to
“change the narrative to create a culture of respect” at LSU.
“It’s foolish and dishonest to pretend that racism doesn’t
exist or that we do not judge others by the color of their
skin,” she said.
There was a performance of “Lift Every Voice and Sing,”
and the event wrapped up with Dennis answering questions
from the audience. Afterwards, five students from the
audience were chosen to have “fireside chat” with the civil
rights activist.
LSU also awarded performance studies graduate student
Johanna Middleton the Unsung Hero award for her work
toward social justice through art. Middleton’s efforts
were recognized through her work on “Resilient Body,”
a performance bringing awareness to the toxicity of rape
culture.
“I think it’s so important to remember that it’s not
just the folks we’re constantly hearing about like MLK,
who obviously did amazing work, but it’s the folks who,
like Dennis said, are behind the scenes, who are tirelessly
showing up day after day to organize and support these
movements,” Middleton said.
Photos by Francis Dinh
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