49th Annual MLK Birthday Convocation guests and attendees discuss the continued fight for social justice [GALLERY]

Chelsey Jones and Greg Poindexter
Staff Writers/MC Students

Intelligence Plus Character: That Is the Goal of True Education. This theme for the 49^th Annual Martin Luther King, Jr. Birthday Convocation was personified on Jan. 17 in the Rose E. McCoy Auditorium.

After a stirring rendition of “Lift Every Voice and Sing”, the large crowd of attendees was treated to a history lesson that never fails to inspire.

            Kendall Bunch, 2016-2017 Student Government Association President, encouraged the students of Jackson State University to continue the fight for social justice.

“Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. once said that, ‘the ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy;’ we’ve all heard this quote a thousand times,” Bunch said. “But I believe now more than ever we must instill this principle in our day to day lives. With the various challenges we face in this generation, from the criminal justice system to politics to race relations, we must begin to take that stand for the people who paved the way before us.”

Cheryl Brown Henderson, a 2017 For My People award recipient, gave the keynote address. Henderson is the daughter of the late Rev. Oliver Brown, one of the 12 parents who filed lawsuit for equal education in the historic Brown v. the Board of Education in Topeka, Kansas.

She started her speech by asking all of the educators in the building to raise their hands.

“Without educators, what would we have?” Henderson asked. “We would have chaos. Educators are the foundation of every single individual’s lives. Education takes initiative. It is an intimate act. At the end of the day, it’s up to you.”

Henderson, founding president of the Brown Foundation for Educational Equity, Excellence, and Research reminded the convocation attendees of why the celebration of Dr. King and other pioneers was still relevant, referencing that in 2016, the nation was plagued with many killings of unarmed African-Americans.

“Your state Mississippi continues to hold a mirror up to this nation, reminding it constantly of who it really is and what it has overcome,” she said. “Because every time something happens in this country, every time a police officer pulls a gun on a person of color who is unarmed, somebody comes forward and says that’s not who we are. Yeah, it is who we are. Your state reminds us of that and we need that reminder.”

For Akil Muhammad, a junior engineer major here at Jackson State University, the program was a time of tribute and reflection.

“I grew up in Florissant, Mo., which isn’t too far from Ferguson, Mo., where Mike Brown was killed,” he said. “Every time I drive pass the site where he was killed, I’m angered and I’m emotional about it because it hit so close to home you know…that could’ve been anyone, even me.”

Elizabeth Jones, a sophomore business administration major from Detroit, Mich., believes that the annual convocation is very important for Jackson State students.

“I believe it’s important because we are an HBCU and it’s important for our people to know that even still today, we have to fight for our rights,” Jones said. “It’s also important so that our people can start embracing our history.”

Photos by Chelsey Jones, Greg Poindexter, Austin Paschal, Bernice Brown and Lindsei Roby.