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For many in attendance, this year’s celebration was made
even more special by what they say is the fulfillment of Dr.
King’s dream.
“More than 40 years ago he [King] had this thing called a
dream…and tomorrow on January 20, that dream comes true with
the inauguration of President-elect Barack Obama,” said
Shenikwa Stratford, mistress of ceremonies.
Upon taking the stage, Mayor Carty Finkbeiner seemed to
second Stratford’s sentiment.
“In November, 2008, perhaps for the first time in this
nation, that test and dream became a reality where not based
upon the color of a man’s skin, but upon the character of
his heart and soul, in a very large majority, Americans
elected Barack Obama President of the United States of
America,” Finkbeiner said.
Finkbeiner told the audience that King practiced this year’s
theme of “Strength to Lead, Courage to Love” by speaking out
against all forms of injustice despite the fact that he was
placing himself in harms way.
“He was not just a civil rights leader, her was not just a
minister, he was truly what the Nobel Prize saluted him for
a man of intense character, intense morality,” said
Finkbeiner.
UT President Lloyd Jacobs recounted for the audience the
recollections of Reverend I.J. Johnson of St. Marks Baptist
Church, who says King “talked to me many days about the
conditions [blacks suffered under] and together we prayed
that God would one day bring us out of this dilemma.”
Jacobs, also keenly aware of King’s commitment to equality
in education, announced the expansion of the UT Guarantee
Scholar Award to include 21 of Ohio’s urban school
districts.
According to Jacobs, the scholarship will cover the cost of
full tuition at UT after state and federal aid for every
student with a minimum grade point average of 3.0.
“We here at The University of Toledo believe in diversity,”
Jacobs said.
“We believe, further, that access to education for everyone
is entirely consistent with what Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
preached and believed.”
The 8th annual event also included song, dance and video
tributes to King, who was assassinated in Memphis Tennessee
in April of 1968.
The Clarence Smith Community Chorus began its musical
tribute with “Ezekiel Saw the Wheel,” a Negro spiritual
detailing Old Testament Prophet Ezekiel’s vision of two
large intersecting wheels spinning in the sky.
According to Smith, slaves saw the larger wheel driven by
fate, and the smaller wheel, driven by the word of God.
Keyser William Lucas’s [King Keyser] video tribute to King,
spliced with footage of Barack Obama accepting the
Democratic nomination, garnered the most rousing round of
applause of the morning.
Lucas reminded the audience that Barack Obama will need
everyone’s help in restoring the United States of America to
its former prominence in the world.
“If your response when somebody asks you what will you do to
make Barack Obama successful is I’m going to pray for him,
then that would be the wrong answer,” said Keyser.
Following the video tribute, UT’s Student African-American
Brotherhood (SAAB) pledged to do their part in helping Obama
succeed.
“We the brothers of the Student African-American Brotherhood
embrace the principles of accountability, pro-active
leadership, self-discipline, and intellectual development,”
said the group of young men in unison.
Prior to closing out the ceremony, several schools and
social service agencies were recognized for participating in
the day of service initiative supported by President-elect
Obama.
The celebration concluded with a community luncheon in the
Savage Arena.
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