To celebrate Martin Luther King Jr., Keynote Speaker, Founder and President of the Transformative Justice Coalition, and Immediate Past President of the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights, Barbara Arnwine, spoke to students and the community in the Student Center Monday, Jan. 18. She reinforced the importance of the history and movements that are the reason behind how far society has come today.
Many community members and students attended the event to hear the words of Arnwine and educate themselves about the foundation Martin Luther King Jr. has built and about the transformation society has gone through because of him.
“I have never, in all of my 62 years, heard a speech that was more compelling than today,” community member Mary Barnes said. “The facts, the statistics, the knowledge that this young lady had and then coming here again today and learning things, even as an elder, I was not aware of […] our history and about how today is effected by yesterday and the day before that.”
Arnwine’s statistics and facts were able to shed light upon many issues most people don’t typically reflect on in their daily lives.
“It was informative,” Mynesha Avery, a sophomore majoring in social work said. “She touched on things people wouldn’t really talk about, so it just opened up my mind to think about things that I usually wouldn’t think about.”
Her speech touched on the Voting Act and the flaws of the Civil Rights movement in 1960, and how those same mistakes that were made during that time can be prevented in future situations.
“The biggest mistake of the 1960’s Civil Rights Movement was not including women in leadership positions,” Arnwine said. “We have so many profound women, all of these amazing, high power, thoughtful leaders, and organizers, but they weren’t at the forefront. Look at pictures of the movement, they weren’t given the authority, the position, or the power to lead.”
“We can barely talk about race in a setting, without people saying who did what wrong,” Arnwine said.
Later, Arnwine used the example of how discrimination and racism never end and the different problems that are faced with it are just in rotation with each other, just as how the bars of a cage can be rearranged but they are always the same bars.
“What she said was informative and I really liked her example of the cage,” Vanielle Sanberes, a sophomore majoring in elementary education said. “Examples like that show how you can make a difference in society.”
Empowered by Arnwine’s words, students were left to reflect on what changes they can make to help ensure a bright future for society and their community.
“I want to get more involved with #Blacklivesmatter,” Sanberes said. “Just get myself more informed, so I can get others informed for future generations.”
