SIUE Honors Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in 39th Annual Celebration
Black ancestors of a brutal and bloodied past hoped for a tomorrow that would yield justice and equity. Today is that future many longed for and is also the soil in which current descendants can pay it forward by seeding things that will produce a future ripe with healing.
Southern Illinois University Edwardsville held its 39th annual Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Celebration in two virtual observances hosted by The Inclusive Excellence, Education and Development Hub (The Hub) on Wednesday, Jan. 19 and Friday, Jan. 28. The celebration’s theme was “Seeding the Healed Future.”
“I have been a part of many Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Celebrations, and each one was just a little different,” said SIUE Chancellor Randy Pembrook. “Some offered much needed historical perspective, some offered calls to action, while others offered moments of inspiration. Each event offered a keynote which left much to ponder for the audience.”
“Seeding the healed future is an invitation to co-create more equitable realities than any of us will ever live to see,” 
said keynote speaker Rebeccah Bennett, founder and principal of Emerging Wisdom and its subsidiary InPower Institute. Bennett currently serves as immediate past co-chair of the board of Forward Through Ferguson (the successor organization of the Ferguson Commission) and is past chair of the board of Generate Health (formerly the St. Louis Maternal Child and Family Health Coalition).
Bennett inspired participants to engage in a reflective journey on what seeds they are planting and what seeds they would produce in the future. She also encouraged the audience by saying King’s vision would persist and his dream realized, pointing to positive changes that have already occurred as evidence.
The second part of the celebration recognized the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. award winners.
Jaala Taylor, a senior in the School of Nursing, was awarded the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. SIUE Student Scholarship for exemplifying Dr. King’s teachings, principles and philosophical beliefs.
Keya Anderson, an eighth grade student at Lincoln Middle School in East St. Louis, 
was named the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Youth Essay, Poetry and Visual Arts Competition winner. The award recognizes local youth whose creative work best represents the values and ideals of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. This year’s submissions were to capture the essence of Dr. King’s words from his 1947 letter “The Purpose of Education,” showing an understanding of his call for action to defend the benefits of education for everyone.
To view the celebrations, visit The Hub’s YouTube channel at http://tiny.cc/HubChannel.
Photos: Rebeccah Bennett, founder and principal of Emerging Wisdom and its subsidiary InPower Institute.
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. scholarship award winner, Jaala Taylor, a senior in the SIUE School of Nursing.
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. essay contest winner, Keya Anderson, eighth grader at Lincoln Middle School in East St. Louis.
