January turns into an even shorter school month when we have the third Monday “off” to remember the great American leader, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. We’ve been celebrating his legacy since grade school, but it’s difficult to truly appreciate his leadership as we sleep or ski the school-free day away.
Dr. King was not a follower. Cliché or not, he had a dream and made it into a reality. As a black political figure, he stood before his friends, family and country to express his disbeliefs with the discrimination in the country that led to historical changes. He changed legislation and culture in America between 1955 and 1968. He spoke to the country on the terrible treatment the blacks faced daily, which instigated the change that occurred.
To be recognized for following and demonstrating the leadership of Dr. King. is a remarkable honor and Danke Li, Meredith Marquez and Shawne Lomauro are three active members of the Fairfield community who were recently awarded for their “commitment to the ideals and values of Dr. King.” It’s been 26 days and their New Year’s resolution already looks a hell of a lot better than ours.
But despite the progress Dr. King and our fellow Fairfield members have made, discrimination and prejudice still exists and there’s no telling if it will extinct. Two of our Fairfield undergraduate classmates have been personally victimized and were brave enough to share their story.
Whether the professor who discriminated against a Muslim student or the group of girls who offended a black student were punished or not, at Fairfield we’re taught to have equal rights and promote peace amongst one another. These two (hopefully) rare cases are unfortunate, but remind us all the more why our recently awarded colleagues are important mentors in our experience here at Fairfield.
These great leaders don’t hide behind masks and capes with superhuman powers. They’re human. They walk with us to class, buy a drink at the Grape, help pay for our college education and assign us grueling papers and tests.
And it doesn’t always take standing out from the crowd to be a leader, sometimes it just means standing up for the crowd. We all have problems and concerns, which we know others and ourselves struggle with.
So really there are five leaders here. The ones recognized for the good they have done for others and the ones recognized for speaking out on the bad others have done to them. Either way, standing up and speaking loudly is what most of us remember Dr. King for. Let’s have others remember us the same way.
Leave a Reply