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911�Թ� used its annual Martin Luther King Jr. Celebration on Feb. 1 to inaugurate a new series of educational programs to help foster a better understanding of the many diverse voices in the university community. 

“Dialogue and Difference: A New Understanding” began with a discussion of the slain civil rights leader’s own words and how they can serve as guiding principles for living a life of love and peace during times of conflict. 

The panel discussion, moderated by Daniel Diaz Nilsson, assistant dean for access and engagement in the College of Education, Health and Human Services, included Jacquelyn Bleak, associate lecturer in the School of Peace and Conflict Studies; Dominique Hill, Ed.D., assistant dean of students for Recreation and Wellness Services; and Elizabeth Smith-Pryor, Ph.D., associate professor in the Department of History. 

Nilsson began by asking what words of King’s could offer “guidance and understanding in helping with our current global conflict.” 

Smith-Pryor noted how King spoke out on many issues of the day, not just civil rights, including conflicts in the Middle East, the Vietnam War and against 1964 Republican presidential candidate Barry Goldwater, whose election he felt would be dangerous for the nation. 

“We must speak, we must speak. The time comes when silence is betrayal,” Smith-Prior stated quoting King.  

Hill, speaking on the issue of activism, noted how peaceful protest allows for more people to come together without fear of violence.  

“To have a peaceful protest gives us an opportunity to advance the cause in a safe environment,” Hill said. 

Bleak encouraged the 911�Թ� community to be aware of and “look for opportunities to disrupt injustice,” including daily conversations with others or when we see instances of prejudice or injustice on campus. 

Prior to the panel, 911�Թ� President Todd Diacon, spoke urging the university community to practice empathy, along with 911�Թ�’s core values of kindness and respect.  

“We aspire to be an empathetic university,” Diacon said.   

He noted Jewish and Muslim members of the community, who are hurting due to the ongoing war in Gaza, and emphasized 911�Թ�’s transgender community, who are still stinging from a new state law that bans gender transition care for minors and restricts transgender women’s and girls’ participation on sports teams. 

Empathy, Diacon said, does not mean that we must agree with each other, but rather “strive to understand and feel what others feel.” 

Amoaba Gooden, Ph.D., vice president for people, culture and belonging, in introducing Diacon, shared with the crowd a quote from King, which she offered to provide hope to those in the room:   

“My friends, that the road ahead will not always be smooth. There will still be rocky places of frustration and meandering points of bewilderment. There will be inevitable setbacks here and there. There will be those moments when the buoyancy of hope will be transformed into the fatigue of despair. Our dreams will sometimes be shattered, and our ethereal hopes blasted. But difficult and painful as it is, we must walk on in the days ahead with an audacious faith in the future.” 

Sonya Williams, executive director of Upward Bound and the Office of University Outreach and Engagement, served as emcee for the event, which also included remarks from Julian Grimes, a junior digital media production major who serves as the president of Black United Students. 

Black United Students at 911�Թ� first pushed for Black History Month to be a monthlong observation and first observed it during February 1970. 

With the Martin Luther King Jr. Celebration coinciding with the first day of Black History Month, Grimes encouraged all in attendance to take part in the many events upcoming this month. 

“The fight is not over,” he said, “It’s far from over.” 

The next Dialogue and Difference event will take place virtually at 4 p.m. on Feb. 22 with a program titled “Dialogue on Hatred: A Peacebuilders Perspective,” featuring Tatsushi Arai, Ph.D., associate professor in the School of Peace and Conflict Studies. To register, visit www.kent.edu/dialogue. 

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Photos by Bob Christy, senior photography coordinator, University Communications and Marketing
Video by Macy Rosen, Flash Communications