King Encourages Community Involvement
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Pamela Sumah, who earned bachelor’s degrees in 2005 and 2006 and is a current MBA student at Penn State Behrend, chats with Martin Luther King III during his recent visit to the college. King was welcomed by members of the college's Multi-Cultural Council prior to his presentation to 500 students, staff and community members. |
Greeted with a standing ovation, Martin Luther King III addressed the 500-person audience at Penn State Erie, The Behrend College, with “My Father’s Teaching and Our Challenge”— encouraging everyone to actively engage and participate in the local community to create a better America.
“Everything that we do is for those that come behind us,” said King as he began. The oldest son of Martin Luther King Jr. and Coretta Scott King, his talk was part of Penn State Behrend’s 2007 King holiday celebration and the college’s annual Speaker Series.
With a mixture of candor and humor, King spoke about his father’s hopes and dreams, and how challenging it was to celebrate his father’s birthday for the first time without his mother, who died January 30, 2006. According to his son, Martin Luther King Jr.’s dream was intended to reach the shores of the world, not just America. His father, who would have celebrated his 78th birthday this year, hoped to live in a world where love and trust would triumph over fear and hatred.
“Love is the most powerful revolutionary force known to humanity,” King said.
King discussed a host of current events, including the war in Iraq, and the “triple evils” of racism, poverty and violence in America—how the three are interrelated and why the relationship is so destructive. He highlighted the principles of nonviolence that his father shared with Mahatma Gandhi, and the need to foster initiatives that target today’s youth.
A human rights advocate, community activist, and political leader, King’s own passion is the personal, educational and skills development of young people. His most recent contribution was founding Realizing the Dream, Inc., which promotes and embodies justice, equality and the ‘beloved’ community through specific sustainable initiatives in economic development, non-violence and conflict resolution training, and targeted leadership development for youth.
In closing, King recalled reading an inscription on a statue of revered educator Horace Mann that moved him in his youth, and encouraged others to find inspiration in it as well. The inscription reads: “Be ashamed to die until you’ve won a victory for humanity.”
Martin Luther King III’s Speaker Series appearance was supported by the Janet Neff Sample Center for Manners and Civility, the Penn State Behrend Division of Student Affairs, the Penn State Behrend Student Activity Fee, and the Harriet Behrend Ninow Memorial Lecture Fund. For more information about the series, contact the Office of Student Activities at 814-898-6171.