Stillwater and OSU partner to honor Martin Luther King Jr.

Jan. 18—The Stillwater and Oklahoma State University communities came together Monday to honor the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. with a unity march and a series of speakers.

For the second year, Stillwater Community United, a community organization dedicated to cultivating relationships, diversity, and understanding in Stillwater and surrounding area, the City of Stillwater and Oklahoma State University partnered to present the program.

The first stage of the march, led by Stillwater Community United, began in Southern Woods Park — the traditional heart of Stillwater's Black community — and made its way through town with a police escort before stopping at the Spears School of Business for a series of speakers.

Dr. Jason Kirksey, OSU vice president for institutional diversity and chief diversity officer, said the annual event honoring King strengthens relationships between the university and the community and reminds everyone of the importance of coming together.

"As we are gathered here today, I encourage and challenge each of us to recognize that the meaning of Dr. King's dream is what matters, not just the march," Kirksey said. "Dr. King's legacy continues to serve as a call to action for all of us every day to engage in the work of justice, equality and love of humanity. Hopefully all of us listen to each other, commit to learn from one another and aspire to be better today than we were yesterday."

OSU President Dr. Kayse Shrum walked to the podium as her husband Darren and six children fanned out behind her. The Shrums are a racially-mixed family with three sons, Joseph, Kilientn and Kason who were adopted from Ethiopia. Five of their children attend OSU, and one attends the University of Arkansas.

"I believe it's important for us to take a moment to think about the impact of that Martin Luther King's legacy has had on each and every one of our lives," Shrum said. "As the first female president of a research university in the state of Oklahoma, I'm mindful of the many women and men who came before me and made it possible for me to have this opportunity ... As the mother of a diverse family I am equally mindful of the impact of Martin Luther King on my family and I have a deep gratitude for his tenacity and persistence in the fight against racial inequality."

She said upon reading King's "I have a dream" speech, she was drawn to the passage where he said he hoped someday his children would be judged not by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character.

"That is my desire for my family and for the Cowboy family, that everyone at Oklahoma State University not only feels welcomed, but valued," Shrum said.

Monday's march was just one example of how OSU's campus wants to celebrate, respect and embrace diversity, she said.

Stillwater Mayor Will Joyce noted that everyone present had gathered to honor the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., and his advocacy for the fundamental rights and the dignity of all people.

He then challenged them to continue that unfinished process.

"His life work taught us not only to recognize the reality of racial injustice and to be honest with ourselves about the inequities around us, but more so to do something about it, to improve the world we live in for all people," Joyce said. "That work continues today. We're here in recognition that the dream Dr. King envisioned more than a half century ago is still in our future. We have a role in making it become a reality."

He called the collaboration between the City of Stillwater, Stillwater Community United and OSU an example of that commitment to progress.

Joyce encouraged people as they continued the march to the McKnight Center for a student keynote address to meet someone new, to make a connection with someone outside their normal group of friends.

"The strength and the diversity of our relationships here in Stillwater are the foundation of our shared vision for a greater and more unified tomorrow," he said.

That theme continued as graduate student Chideha Kanu climbed the stairs at the McKnight Center to address the crowd. Kanu is a Nigerian American who was born in Oklahoma City and lived in the U.S. for his first eight years before moving back to Nigeria with his family.

He returned to the U.S. to attend OSU and has immersed himself in the community by volunteering at organizations like Our Daily Bread and serving in a variety of campus leadership roles while pursuing Bachelor's and MBA degrees at the university.

He thinks his diversity of experiences helps him relate to people from many walks of life.

"I learned what it was like to live in the largest Black nation in the world and follow that up by attending a predominantly white institution in Stillwater, Oklahoma," Kanu said. "... One of the biggest things that I learned is that regardless of what we do, because we are in a community of people from different walks of life, race, ages and classes, there are certain things that we will not understand about the person next to us. No matter what, there are certain experiences they may share that we will not be able to relate to and that is totally fine."

Kanu described how hearing last year's student keynote speaker left him feeling motivated to work across racial differences on campus and bridge that gap in his community. He also left feeling inspired to speak out if he got the opportunity.

It's hard to have a discussion about race right now, not because of a lack of means or a lack of people with interest, he said, but because we as a society lack the desire to go beyond the basic steps.

"Every MLK Day and Black History Month, corporations, organizations, celebrities and even ourselves, we go online and we post a bunch of MLK quotes, pictures and videos," Kanu said. "For a lot of people, that is where it stops. For corporations that 'go above and beyond,' they have diversity, equity and inclusion training, and for them that is where it stops.

"We forget that the civil rights movement lasted as long as it did. ... It's because there's no quick solution to racism, classism or any form of injustice handed out to any minority. I'm not against posting these pictures or these quotes or anything like that but what I am against is letting that be the only step that you take as we forge on to work for a society that we are more proud of ... No matter how far we've come, there is still a voice not heard, a person not acknowledged and an opportunity not extended to everyone in the room. And because of this, we have to speak up and speak out because Dr. King said, 'We stop living when we become silent about the things that matter.'"

He ultimately challenged people to love one another, saying no matter what you do, no matter where you're from, that is a language we can all speak.

"You and I may not be able to determine the length of the lives of the people around us, but what we can do is pitch in to determine the quality of it," he said.

Twitter: @mcharlesNP