This week, faces of the Civil Rights Movement and beyond lined the wall of the TLC foyer. Among them were Malcom X, Marin Luther King Jr., Barack Obama and Alicia Garza, this year”s Martin Luther King Jr. Day keynote speaker.
The exhibit, titled “A Lasting Legacy,” is just one of several events leading up to MLK and Idaho Human Rights Day on Monday.
“We just wanted to make sure that students know of today”s modern role models that are helping to bring the legacy forward,” said Leathia Botello, coordinator in the Office of Multicultural Affairs. “That even though we have had a lot of changes since the “50s and “60s, that we still have a way to go.”
Botello said while civil rights issues may seem far away in north Idaho, it”s important to facilitate a discussion on them.
“We wanted to make sure that we had a great calendar of events for both MLK and Black History Month that students could participate in so what they”re learning in the classroom becomes relevant and hits home a little bit more,” Botello said.
The Office of Multicultural Affairs also hosted a workshop called “What is the #BLACKLIVESMATTER Movement” Thursday, and Garza, a co-creator of the Black Lives Matter hashtag, will deliver her keynote speech at noon Friday in the Summit Room of the Idaho Commons.
College of Law Associate Dean of Students Jeffrey Dodge helped organize the MLK Day events. He also went to college with Garza.
Dodge said he is very excited that Garza has agreed to come to campus, and believes students will walk away from the speech than with a different perspective than when they walked in.
“She is a nationally and internationally-recognized speaker on race relations in the U.S., and she is one of the co-founders of the Black Lives Matter movement, which has really prompted a lot of discussions about race relations and black lives in this country,” Dodge said.
Mamta Kandel | Argonaut
Academic Success Counselor Jessica Samuels and UI student Jessy Forsmo-Shadid spoke at the Black Lives Matters workshop on Thursday.
Garza is the Special Projects Director of the National Domestic Workers Alliance, and identifies as a queer, feminist social justice activist.
UI student Jessy Forsmo-Shadid said that with two black brothers and one black sister, the Black Lives Matter movement means a lot to her. She said she believes it isn”t completely safe for African-Americans in the United States.
Dodge said the U.S. has a history that is racist in nature, and while he believes American culture has made progress, he doesn”t believe society is as post-racial as some would claim.
“The Black Lives Movement, and what I think (Garza”s) talks will promote, is us thinking about what those issues are and how we can work towards a better country and a better world for us all,” Dodge said.
Botello said Garza was selected as the keynote speaker in order to shed light on what the Black Lives Matter movement really is.
“A lot of people have a certain notion about what it means, and they have all these misconceptions,” Botello said.
Dodge said one of the biggest misconceptions he hears about the Black Lives Matter movement is that supporters of the movement don”t believe that other lives matter.
“I think anyone would recognize that white lives matter, native lives matter, Latino lives matter, but what this movement”s goal is doing is trying to highlight the issues that are facing the black community in our country,” Dodge said.
He said the movement started as a result of the Treyvon Martin and George Zimmerman case.
“We have seen repeatedly in the media not just tensions between police and communities of color, black communities in particular, but in many different areas, issues of black people in this country not being heard and recognized,” Dodge said.
While she said the movement itself has many goals, Forsmo-Shadid said she would love it if people simply gained an increased understanding from these events.
“I think people get wrapped up in their own shit,” Forsmo-Shadid said. “That”s just kind of how we are taught in American society “¦ It makes it really hard to empathize anyone else who does not have that luxury.”
She said, in a perfect world, people would realize there are issues in the world and they are capable of doing something about it.
Garza will deliver her speech a second time at the 23rd annual Latah County Human Rights Task Force Martin Luther King Jr. and Human Rights community breakfast from 9 a.m. to noon Saturday at Moscow Middle School. The event will also feature a full breakfast, entertainment, presentation of Rosa Parks Human Rights Achievement Awards and keynote speech by Alicia Garza. Tickets are $8 for general admission and $4 for students and children.
Submissions are also open for the second annual Martin Luther King Jr. Art and Essay contest, which is open to both full-time undergraduate and graduate students. The contest features art and essay categories with graduate and undergraduate divisions for each. Submissions are due at 4:30 p.m. Jan. 29.
As a whole, the events of the MLK Day celebration are focusing on human rights issues, Dodge said.
“There are issues the black community face in this country that people like me, a self-identified white person, don”t face, and don”t even know that I don”t face,” Dodge said.
Ultimately, Dodge said he hopes people will understand that human rights are universal.
“You”re entitled to them,” he said. “I”m entitled to them, Alicia Garza is entitled to them, and every other person on this planet is entitled to them.”
Editor”s note: Jessy Forsmo-Shadid is a former Argonaut columnist.
Diamond Koloski can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter @diamond_uidaho