• Candlelight vigil honors Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

"When I speak of love, I am speaking of that force which all the great religions have seen as the supreme unifying principle of life. Love is the key that unlocks the door which leads to ultimate reality."
--Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

LETTING LIGHT SHINE: Community members hold candles in the vigil for Martin Luther King. / Photo by Gideon Oakes

By Gideon Oakes

January 18, 2007 | Nearly 100 people gathered in the Sunburst Lounge of the Taggart Student Center Tuesday night to pay tribute to arguably the most prolific civil rights leader of the last century, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

The program, presented by the USU Black Student Union, began at 6 p.m., the approximate time King was shot to death in 1968.

King's legacy was the subject of the program's keynote speech by Dr. David E. Dixon, an assistant professor at Saint Joseph's College and co-editor of Rhetoric, Religion, and the Civil Rights Movement, a commentary on the connection of religion and the motives of civil rights leaders.

Dixon began by giving what he called an "impressionistic take" on King's religious ideal as an ordained Baptist minister that guided his hand in crafting the civil rights movement.

"His resolve, I would argue, came from his religious belief and his religious charge of responsibility that very few other people have been able to take on," Dixon said.

Dixon also discussed his research for his book and said that it surprised him to find out that a nearly equal number of whites were killed alongside blacks during the civil rights movement.

"It didn't matter whether you were black or white in terms of whether you were killed as one of these progressive ministers," Dixon said. "People killed you irrespective of race."

He also noted that veterans were mistreated and killed as frequently as pacifists who hadn't served in World War II.

Dixon believes that King's work and legacy lives on in the words and actions of those who he touched.

"Think of all the people Reverend King brought together, whether in political coalitions or in religious dialogue. What do John F. Kennedy, Lyndon Banes Johnson, Malcolm X, Ralph D. Abernathy, Mahatma Gandhi, and others have in common, beyond their work with Reverend King? Very little, I would argue."

Dixon expressed his hope for the continuation of the progress made in the civil rights movement.

"None of our beautiful ideas will be useful for long if we do not educate our children. The legacy ends if we have no next generation to replace us," Dixon said.

Moises Diaz, director of Multicultural Student Services at USU, echoed Dixon's sentiment.

"The things that we do in the next years will have implications for many years to come. It's all about the choices that many individuals make; and collectively, we can move forward in a more positive way," Diaz said.

The program ended with the lighting of candles, in honor of the first candlelight vigil held at King's Ebenezer Baptist Church on April 4, 1968, the night he was assassinated.

"Lighting a candle tonight is symbolic. As one individual flame lights another, which in turn lights another, our flames together reach upward and fill the room, much as Dr. King's dream filled the people," said Jennifer Gowon, president of the USU Black Student Union.

Accompanying the candle lighting was a slideshow of King's life and times to the tune of Marvin Gaye's song, "What's Goin' On."

Mother, mother
There's too many of you crying
Brother, brother, brother
There's far too many of you dying
You know we've got to find a way
To bring some lovin' here today - Ya

Father, father
We don't need to escalate
You see, war is not the answer
For only love can conquer hate
You know we've got to find a way
To bring some lovin' here today

Picket lines and picket signs
Don't punish me with brutality
Talk to me, so you can see
Oh, what's going on
What's going on
Ya, what's going on
Ah, what's going on

Jennifer Gowon, president of the USU Black Student Union, lights one of the six candles used to light the audience's candles. / Photo by Gideon Oakes

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