Despite the chilly conditions in Dana Auditorium on Jan. 20, the group that gathered there to honor the memory of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. seemed filled with an inner heat.
The program, A Vision for Peace: Dreams Never Die, was sponsored by the African American Cultural Society and featured guest speaker Monica Walker.
Walker is on sabbatical from her position as the Executive Coordinator for the Commemoration of the Maafa. She travels nationwide speaking and leading workshops related to peace, justice, and equity issues as well as seeking to undo racism.
Walker spoke about the famous dream of Dr. King and challenged the audience not only to remember it with admiration, but to dream new dreams that will keep the struggle for equality alive.
“If the dream did not die with Martin Luther King, who’s dreaming now?” Walker said. “How many of our dreams can challenge and prick the conscious of this nation? How are we supporting our dreams?”
Many audience members found Walker’s call to action to be inspiring.
“The most important thing I took from what the speaker had to say was the call for people to take a stand and see who the dreamers among us are,” said Guilford College gospel choir member Amalie Malochee.
This theme of continuing to dream is one that was echoed
by student speaker Sunny Mathews.
The importance of remembering the dreams of Dr. King lies in the fact that he “provoked a need for change in the American system,” Mathews said, “a need which in many respects has not passed.”
The program also included musical selections by the Guilford College Gospel Choir, the Genesis Baptist Church Youth Choir, and the vocal group “Integrity,” as well as a poem read by Carolyn Beard Whitlow, and remarks from additional student speakers.
The program concluded with a candlelight vigil held on the steps of Dana and the singing of the Black National Anthem.