Martin Luther King Jr. Day didn’t end with the parade on Monday, January 18. No, The Dallas Institute of Humanities and Culture settled down at the City Performance Hall for The MLK Symposium “to honor Dr. King’s achievement and legacy, to extend the conversation on civil rights and to promote change and progress in our city.” Here’s a report from the field:
Why do black lives matter? Because they are imperiled, according to Teju Cole, photography editor for The New York Times Magazine, who offered the keynote at The Dallas Institute of Humanities and Culture’s 11th Annual MLK Symposium on Monday evening.
“It’s like when someone says the rainforests are in trouble,” explained Cole. “That doesn’t mean I hate all other forests, it simply means that this particular forest needs a bit of special attention because it is imperiled. That is what black lives matter means.”
Cole’s remarks addressed the event’s theme, “From Birmingham to Charleston: Martin Luther King Jr., and Civil Rights in America”, focusing on America’s progress in ensuring equality under the law and civil rights for all citizens.
The diminutive Cole is at the forefront of a rising chorus of young African-American voices, and has been praised by Salman Rushdie as one of the most gifted writers of his generation. Born in the U.S. in 1975 to Nigerian parents, Cole was raised in Nigeria and is a writer, art historian and photographer, who has also authored two widely acclaimed books, including ‘Every Day is for the Thief, and Open City.’
The North Dallas Community Bible Fellowship Men in Worship Ensemble opened the event at the City Performance Hall with the Black National Anthem. Dr. Larry Allums, Executive Director of The Dallas Institute, then thanked Matrice Ellis-Kirk, who served as honorary chair, and introduced Mayor Mike Rawlings, to offer welcome remarks.
Cole followed Mayor Rawlings with his thoughtful consideration of the history behind the adversarial relationship between law enforcement and black communities with his “outsider’s” perspective. In this, he discussed the subtleties of American racism with regard to looking “into the beyond” as we progress forward together as humans.
Cole’s speech was followed by a performance of a segment from Dallas Theater Center’s The Mountaintop, performed by Tiana K. Johnston and Sam Henderson. Liz Mikel then led a stirring performance of the song “Glory” from the movie Selma that included Booker T. Washington High School students Rachel Webb, Jada Thomas and Lucki Peterson, with original arrangement by Nathan De’Shon Myers. Both performances were curated by Public City.
The Symposium concluded with a panel discussion, moderated by Dr. Allums that included Cole, Talmadge “T.J.” Vaughns Jr., a W. W. Samuell High School graduate studying entrepreneurship at the University of North Texas University of North Texas at Dallas, Tiana Johnston and the Dallas Police Department’s manager of community engagement, Shawn Williams, who penned an article in this week’s Dallas Morning News called “Black lives matter. Blue lives matter. It’s not a zero sum.”
Afterward, at the book-signing, Mrs. Kirk and her husband, former Mayor Ron Kirk, rushed to buy the last three available books for Cole to sign as others in the line snapped selfies with the approachable Cole, who posed obligingly. He laughed in disbelief when Mrs. Kirk reported one of the daughters he was signing a book for has even seen him walking the streets of New York.
* Photo credit: John Strange
Ana Rodriguez says
TJ is a student at UNT Dallas, not UNT (in Denton).
Jeanne Prejean says
Ana, thank you for setting us straight. We have corrected the information provided by the organizers.