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DR. JOHN WRIGHT:
I think you all are aware the MLK program
grew out of the practical application
on this campus of the principles of nonviolent
civil disobedience that were cornerstones
in Dr. King's philosophy of social change,
and social reform, and the quest for
what he called the “Beloved Community.”
This, of course, came about in the wake of
Dr. King's assassination in April of 1968.
The Black Student Organization on campus then,
the Afro American Action Committee, which
I was a member of its executive committee.
Dr. King was assassinated on a Friday
and it was over the national news.
Over the course of that weekend,
rebellions broke out across the country
in more than a hundred American cities.
In that context, we met on the following Monday
in student offices in the union to decide
what kind of response that we could make that
would honor Dr. King and contribute something
constructively to social change in the country.
The backdrop of the MLK Program is within
this broad series of issues that confronted
students on this campus and campuses
around the country back then.
VALERIA SANCHEZ:
I have a question of how you got people together.
Were there people who were just so discouraged
they were like, "This isn't going to happen.
It's too much to ask for."?
If so, how did you deal with convincing them?
Even now you get a lot of folk who are just
like, "Nothing's going to change."
It's going to stay like this forever.
How do you convince those type of people?
DR. WRIGHT: If you're thinking about students,
if you're thinking about students...
One of the things about the era was…
On one level there was tremendous optimism,
I think, in part of the young generation of
students who came of age in the 1960s.
And the sense of the possibility of radical
change in institutions of all kinds in the country.
The notion that the university might be
changed radically was a real prospect for us.
The notion that you actually had the power
to change institutions that are not known
for radical change was very much in the air.
DR: WRIGHT: This is the photo of us having crossed
the bridge from Ford Hall, so we’re now
on this side of the union, after the takeover
was over and the administration had conceded.
That’s Horace Huntley, Rose Mary Freeman,
Warren Tucker...
You can see the top of my head. [laughter]
MELANIE JOHNSON: From what Dr. Wright is describing,
what was your experience like here as a student
when you were here in the MLK Program?
DR. ABDUL OMARI:
Well, so, that was a long time ago.
[laughter] My back hurts.
I was just here.
I was here, didn't know what was happening.
And being in the MLK Program, I don't know
if this is still the case, but they outline
your first semester of courses for you,
and you were with the same group of people
for that first semester.
MELANIE: Like a cohort.
DR. OMARI: Like a cohort, exactly.
You could veer off a little bit, but for the
most part you were with the same group.
I had the fortune of taking Dr. Sam Myers'
class over through the Humphrey
he had an undergraduate version
of a social policy class.
That for me was like, "OK, I can make this
massive institution smaller."
The advising piece was significant because
Stephanie Chrismon was my advisor and so having
the mandatory meetings with her in helping
me track how to get through was something
that, I mean I would have just been out here.
[music]
DR. OMARI: As I'm listening to the history
I get excited,
and I could listen to Dr. Wright all the time.
For the current students, how do y'all see
what y'all are hearing resonating in your
experience now, either positively or areas
where it's like, wow, we're still dealing
with the same thing?
DAVINDRA HANSRAJ: Well, I mean, I think there
is still a lot of work to be done on campus,
but to hear the groundwork.
That was honestly inspiring because...We had
just given a presentation, Val, I, and Daisy
had the privilege of presenting at
the Overcoming Racism Conference.
We discussed some of the material
that you bring up, so…
Just to address the first part, we're very
grateful for everything that you and all the
students have done, because without
that we would not be here.
Like you had mentioned before, I have
been in a similar situation.
Without the MLK Program, I don't think
I would have been successful
at the University of Minnesota.
We still face a lot of issues when it comes
to discrimination and homophobia and xenophobia
when it comes to students who
don't fit the status quo.
So I think we still have a lot of work to do,
but hearing some of that, it helps because
honestly to see where you come from and how
you organized students, I think it's very
inspiring to lead this generation with different
aspects of how the past can lead to the future.
DAISY BUENROSTRO: I think it's also really
interesting just because when I started working
with MLK program, there was a time where
we weren't really doing anything.
In my opinion, we were just an advising office.
I don't really think we were implementing
social justice programs that really
reached out to other students.
But now as I’m a junior, I have
new peers and new advisors.
There is just such a passion and a humongous
transition of social justice passion and implementation
of these programs that really do draw in all
types of students who have a passion for
changing things--especially on this
campus and in our community.
For me personally, it's been really interesting
seeing that transition and seeing that growth
and that re-amp of,
"We have to do something about it."
NAOMI COWAN: So to kinda shift focus away
from the history of the program, I have a
question for you, Melanie, about
the Immersion Experience.
I was able to go this last May with you to
Chicago on the last Immersion Experience.
It was such an amazing experience.
And I did notice it was your baby.
[laughter]
You spent so much time and work on it
and it really paid off. So I just...
I just want to know when you created the
first Immersion Experience and the idea
what did you have in mind?
And where would you like to see
the Immersion Experience going?
MELANIE: Our first Immersion Experience was
“Social Justice, Activism in Communities of Color."
We wanted to include... Specifically in
communities of color.
That was all about who's out there doing the
work in this local community?
Who's out there actually connecting the dots
for youth, and for women, and for students of color
and people of color in general in the community?
Once you learn these things, you already have
a place to create application.
You know?
You already have somewhere to be connected
to create change right where you are.
And also to inspire you to be a part of what's
already happening on campus.
And so this last year, when we did
“Social Justice…
A Social” Um…
Oh my god I have to read his shirt!
“Speak Truth to Power,” right!
He has his shirt on!
“Speak Truth to Power: Civil Rights & Social
Justice Storytelling.”
We really wanted students to also
understand like this isn't just...
A circumstance, a situation
that you're experiencing now.
I think you mentioned that earlier,
Daisy, like a little bit of tweaks here,
but we're still seeing the same thing.
We know that the stories were important.
We knew that the experiences were going to
be important for students and for the namesake...
When I came here as an advisor, I had
heard the history of what folks had been doing
even back when you were a student here.
And I was just like, "Yeah, but what else
can we be doing?" [laughs]
NAOMI: Melanie's idea and what she wanted,
that's exactly what I got out of it.
I have never been the one to really
step out and be... I could not
lead all of the protests and
be the name on everything.
And so in my social justice experience,
that's been very discouraging because
since that's all you hear about.
That's all you think that there is.
But going on this Immersion Experience,
I'm seeing the teachers
and the owners of the charter school.
Their whole purpose is to build a community.
And that social justice starts
at such a smaller level.
And I want to be a part of that smaller level.
And so it was really inspiring, just knowing
that there was a place for me in the movement
even if it isn't in the traditional sense.
VALERIA: I wanted to let you know
that it didn't just stop there.
Over this past weekend at the conference,
there was a participant who talked about storytelling
as a form of activism.
And we brought in the Immersion Experience.
We were telling like, "This happens.
It's possible," and just being able to pass
that on because you and everybody else
gave us the opportunity.
We're not letting it stop there.
It's continuous. So...
Hopefully we do something with that
because it's proof that it can happen.
MELANIE: That's awesome.
DR. WRIGHT: As someone who came of age
as a student in the 1960s, a half-century ago
and thinking about this gathering with us here today as
we contemplate the MLK Program's 50th anniversary,
as the Department of African American & African
Studies contemplates its 50th anniversary,
as the College of Liberal Arts is contemplating
and celebrating its 150th anniversary…
Thinking about the future I guess brings a
number of things to mind.
Part of my hope for the future is that young
people now on these campuses and moving into
their maturity will be able to apply all the
wide array of resources and tools of communication,
technology, etcetera, in potential interconnectedness
to make the processes of social change
on this campus and elsewhere as
effective as possible going forward.
DR. OMARI: In 50 years, I hope that
we won't need the MLK Program.
I don't want it to go away, but what I mean
by that is, I hope that we can get to a place
where the MLK staff will work itself out of
the job because we'll be an institution that's
inclusionary and that is made up of students,
staff, faculty, administration that look very
different from what they do now and think
very different from how they do now.
MELANIE: In the future, what we need to do
is better serve our students.
We need to give them the experience
that they deserve and that they need.
We need to create more services for our students
so that this really is…
Continues to be a home away from home,
and be able to give them real tools
to be able to be sitting at
the table here, you know….
20, 30 years from now with new students.
That’s our future.
DR. WRIGHT: That’s also the past.
MELANIE: Exactly! [laughter]
This is what I’m talking about.
DAISY: I guess for me, thinking about the
future of MLK Program, I'd really like
to see more implementation of scholarships,
of programs, of internships.
So we could really educate the students
that are in our program so they can become
active, educated, thriving students who can
navigate this school and feel confident and
know that when you say you're in the 
MLK Program, it really means something.
It's hard being a person of color here. It is.
Back then, in the present, in the future…
It probably still will be hard.
But I want MLK to be that program that you
don't mess with, that you don't question.
[laughter]
When you're part of it, you know that you're
going to get something out of it that you
can take with you for the rest of your life.
And it will transform other people's lives.
I want my little nine-year-old sister to know
that I was part of the MLK program.
And I want her to be part of it and
know that she's going to be OK.
DR. OMARI: Great
MELANIE: That's awesome.
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