Skip to Content, Navigation, or Footer.
Support the IDS in College Media Madness! Donate here March 24 - April 8.
Thursday, March 28
The Indiana Daily Student

Bloomington's Martin Luther King Jr. birthday celebration brings community together

A crowd gathered in the rain as the sound of children’s voices and guitar strumming emanated from the Buskirk-Chumley Theater.

“Ain’t gonna let nobody turn me around,” the children sang as their parents clapped along and younger siblings strained to see from atop their fathers’ shoulders.

Jim Sims, president of the Monroe County branch of the NAACP, said this was his favorite part of the 2017 City of Bloomington Martin Luther King Jr. Birthday Celebration on Monday.

“It was just great seeing those kids stand up and sing about this cause,” he said. “They’re the future, the future of this movement.”

In addition to the children’s choir, the celebration involved a play by the Scribes of Stages Bloomington, speakers, a performance by the African American Choral Ensemble and the recognition of those who volunteered in honor of King. Sims said this legacy involved building communities out of divisiveness.

The celebration was 
designed to remember and honor King’s legacy.

“It all promotes community building,” Sims said. “It’s to bring different facets, different levels, different backgrounds, different people together in order to celebrate the virtues and teachings of Dr. King.”

House manager Grace Hertz said these teachings transcend time and are important for people to hold onto today.

If people neglect to follow King’s teachings, she said the consequences could be severe.

“I think it’s important to be vigilant about remembering Dr. King and to be aware of the issues going on in our own community,” she said. “I think if we lose that vigilance, there’s a danger that we’ll just become complacent to these real and pressing issues.”

Leslie Samuel, a member of the African American Choral Ensemble and an IU sophomore, said her identity as a black woman makes these issues even more pressing in her own life.

“People who look like me have not always had certain rights in this country,” she said. “Still to this day we aren’t seen as quite equal. So Dr. King really fought for this equality, and we need to continue this fight.”

There are barriers in the fight that lasted beyond King’s life, Sims said.

However, it is these barriers that should encourage civil rights advocates to fight harder for hope.

“It’s especially important now with the last election and the divisive rhetoric and misunderstandings,” he said. “There’s a lack of hope. We want to instill a new hope and a new clarity.”

Samuel said overcoming these obstacles will involve continued communication and understanding among different groups.

“We need to communicate as a community,” she said. “We need to engage with the issues that we still have to face as a community. Then we can continue to honor Dr. King’s legacy.”

Sims said he agrees a continued dialogue about race is vital to tackling continuing racial divisions.

Events like the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Birthday Celebration offer a great start to such efforts.

They show that Bloomington is not afraid to have difficult public conversations about race.

“It’s an opportunity to get together as opposed to grow apart,” he said. “It’s an opportunity to listen. The good Lord gave us two ears and one mouth for a reason. It was so we could listen to each other and learn from each other.”

Get stories like this in your inbox
Subscribe