Sharon - With Martin Luther King Jr. birthday as the backdrop, a seven-person panel addressed issues of diversity, civil rights, and nonviolent protests.
TV host, professor and lawyer Charles Walker lead the discussion of King’s legacy on Wednesday, Jan. 11, at the Sharon Adult Center.
“This community togetherness is part of (King)’s legacy,” said panelist Beth Hoke. She serves as the coordinator for the Sharon Pluralism Network,
Hoke said King’s legacy was important for a diverse community like Sharon. According to the Massachusetts Department of Education, one quarter of Sharon isn’t white and approximately 18 percent of the population doesn’t speak English as their first language.
Other members of the panel included Nabeel Khudairi, a co-chairman of the Interfaith Committee of the Islamic Center of New England, Lyda Peters, a professor of civil rights and social justice at Boston College, David Blocker, the cantor for Temple Kol Tikvah, Janet Penn, the Executive Director of Youth Leaders Engaging Across Differences, and Sharon students Puya Sasani and Saima Ali.
Taking an international view, Sasani, a junior at Sharon High said the developments in his home country of Iran correlate to King’s struggle in the United States.
“(King) had a huge impact on how politics works,” he said. “People try to act like he did by being aggressive, but not violent. This is what many are trying in Iran.”
Sasani was concerned nonviolence may not work in Iran though, as many of the peaceful protesters have been received with violence from the Iranian military.
Two of his cousins have been arrested during these protests, he said. One was released shortly after, but he said the other will be in prison for the next 10 years.
Peters argued that nonviolence could work though and urged Sasani to believe so too. She said just as Iranian protesters are receiving unfair consequences, so did King and his followers during the civil rights movement. She said King’s message of peaceful protest was successful, because he was accompanied by many other protestors.
“Dr. King, although an important figure, was a member of a larger movement,” she said.
Program Coordinator for the Sharon Adult Center Marsha Books said discussions like the one between Sasani and Peters, are why these events are so important. She said that through this debate, a community can learn to understand each other more.
“I am delighted that we are starting a dialogue here,” she said. “I hope that everyone will continue this conversation in the future.”
As the event came to a close, Walker asked everyone to stand and link hands. As slideshow images of King flashed on wall behind him, everyone held hands and sang “We Shall Overcome.”
An edited version of the discussion will be aired on Walker’s television program, “The Heart of the Matter,” throughout the holiday weekend. Books was the primary organizer of the event, and said she did so because there had been a void in Sharon over the last few years.
“The last few years nothing has been done to commemorate MLK,” she said. “I just didn’t want another year to pass without a remembrance to him.”
Evan Koslof
1/13/2012
Originally Posted: http://www.wickedlocal.com/sharon/news/x3497273/Sharon-panel-discusses-MLK-s-legacy?zc_p=0#axzz1li2OhLar
No comments:
Post a Comment