Students construct quilt in honor of King

On the 77th anniversary of the birth of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., IU students gathered at Eigenmann Hall to participate in a celebration of remembrance. A room filled with excited chatter and laughter fell silent after the presentation began.\nJada D, a contemporary poet, opened the event by passionately reciting poetry that questioned civilization, the government, treatment of the poor in society and much more.\nFollowing Jada D, the keynote speaker, law school professor Kevin Brown, delivered a speech titled "Revisiting the 'I Have a Dream' Speech in a Post Desegregation Era." Brown discussed three different interpretations of King's "I Have a Dream" speech -- the individualist, the nationalist and the Afro-centrism views. \n"There was never really one dream," Brown said. "Dreamers have multiple perspectives." \nBrown was asked to speak at the event in place of IU President Adam Herbert, the original keynote speaker. Herbert was called to Indianapolis for University business for the day. \nEigenmann Hall's resident assistants put on the event, which is a yearly tradition. A quilt, which students made to express their feelings on Martin Luther King Jr. Day, hung from the wall. The quilt was composed of sheets of paper proclaiming brightly colored words like "harmony" and "freedom." \nStudents at the event were provided free snacks, along with buttons with phrases like "What's your dream?" or a picture of King. \nDoctoral student Tim Bagwell addressed the students and provided reflections on peace.\n"It's not just about this day. It's about changing our environment to make it better," he said. \nStudents at the event had different reasons for attending, but many, like sophomore William Holdeman, said they felt inspired by the presentation and hoped to see the sentiments discussed carried on after the holiday ended.\n"This was just one hour. Things are so easily forgotten in a short amount of time, but hopefully if this hit one or two people close to home, they will carry it on," Holdeman said. \nJunior Danielle Redd said she felt obliged to attend.\n"One of the main reasons I'm here is because (King) died for us. I wouldn't even be in college if it weren't for him," Redd said. "Instead of sitting at home watching TV today, I felt like I should do something."\nSenior Marcia Jones summed up the importance of the event. \n"Martin Luther King Jr. was somebody who gave their life, put family aside and made a difference for every black and white person to live in peace," Jones said. "In the past 30 years or so, his dream has started to disappear. We have to come together to keep it alive"