Singing praises to his name

What will you do during next Monday's holiday? Catch up on homework or reading? Work? Sleep? I've always seen holidays as an opportunity for uninterrupted data collection myself. But this Martin Luther King, Jr. Day is different.

Maybe it's the recent death of another giant in the fight for civil rights, Rosa Parks. Or perhaps I'm more interested this year because of my own growing interest in educational and cultural events on campus. (I'm still kicking myself for not attending Awaaz before this year.) Certainly I'm motivated to attend the events this weekend because of my work with the Martin Luther King, Jr. Commemoration Committee, but I hope I would still be interested even if I hadn't been participating.

Whatever the reason, I'm now looking forward to attending the conversation with Charles Stone III on Friday, the Sunday Service with Harry Belafonte and Ariel Dorfman's play Speak Truth to Power: Voices From Beyond the Dark on Monday. These are only some of the events planned to commemorate the life and work of Dr. King this weekend.

Working with the committee has made me think more than ever about civil rights and the role that Dr. King has played in American history. The most thought-provoking moment came when a committee member mentioned that students had told her that they were uninterested in MLK Day events because they had "already studied Dr. King and didn't need to anymore."

Unfortunately, this is probably a common view. Many of us tend to think that the fight for equal rights was successful and is now over. We each treat everyone around us with respect, regardless of gender or skin color or sexual orientation, so there is nothing more to be done, right? It would be wonderful if it were true.

Even recent studies have shown that job or housing applications from a "Shanaysha" are less likely to be accepted than those from a "Jennifer" even by people who feel they are unbiased by race or background. Judging by the number of articles and discussions about race relations at Duke in the past few years, this is still very much a concern for students and administrators. Additionally, many students in traditionally under-represented groups have repeatedly raised the issue of the lack of role models in their fields. Despite the progress that has been made in our country, African Americans are still often portrayed in the media very differently than Caucasians. There is still a stark socioeconomic difference between the two groups, on average. The United States has yet to elect a black president, or for that matter anyone who isn't a white male.

So in what ways does it help matters to attend events celebrating the life and work of Dr. King or learn more about the Civil Rights Movement? Events such as these make us more aware of issues that still exist today despite the fact that there has been improvement on a number of fronts. Listening to inspirational speakers will certainly make us each think about what is still to be done. Even though I often feel that I understand issues of diversity, I learn more at every discussion on the topic and realize how much I never thought about.

Maybe you'll have plenty of homework or sleep to catch up on this holiday weekend, but if you're anything like me, you just might later regret not taking advantage of opportunities like this at Duke. I hope I see you this weekend.