By Michaela Cleveland, Staff Writer

Published in print Jan. 28, 2015

Last Wednesday at Aycock Auditorium, UNC-Greensboro and N.C. A&T partnered for the third time in celebration of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

“In the 29th year of the MLK celebration at UNCG and third year of partnering with A&T, these events allow us to pause in brief celebration and connect with deep gratitude of the sacrifices of Martin Luther King,” said UNCG’s chancellor, Linda Brady.

“We all should continue to want to learn more about MLK and move beyond the march and the speech,” Brady asserted.

The theme for this year’s event was “Arts & the Civil Rights Movement.”

Keynote speaker, Dr. Sonia Sanchez, spoke to the greater purpose of remembering the great civil rights leader.

“We are here today,” Sanchez said, “because we must answer the most important question that can be asked: what does it mean to be human? The question for us in the 21st century is, can we reverse the tide of genocide among Africans.”

Sanchez is an award-winning author, poet and civil rights activist.

She is the recipient of the Community Service Award from the National Black Caucus of State Legislators, the Outstanding Arts Award from the Pennsylvania Coalition of 100 Black Women and the Langston Hughes Poetry Award.

“The thing that I have found about African Americans is, that we have an amazing amount of bravery attached to our spirit and a history of bravery among our people,” Sanchez said.

“What you have to do,” she continued, “is that you have to always decide that there are things we have to do on this Earth and then go out and do them. The more we do with our time on this Earth, the less future generations have to do with theirs.”

With eyes closed she went on, saying, “We must all work and struggle for a better world— for a better tomorrow, a better today even.”

“Brother Martin, in my head, understood that there were men out there wanting to hurt him but he walked and moved through his fear,” Sanchez said. “He was in Chicago and he was going to go out and he said, ‘We have to meet here at 9:00.’ People were so upset. They said, ‘9:00? That’s too early.’ But he went away, even against all those racists, even with few people behind him. Then people finally showed up and walked with him.”

Sanchez spoke about what she feels the current generation must fight for.

“One of the ways we start is to go down to the local office and check with the people who are running things,” she said. “If you don’t want to do that, figure out with people what you can do. Maybe you can send money; maybe you can send clothing. There is so much out there. All we have to do is look for it.”

This year’s Martin Luther King celebration comes at a time of heightened awareness of racial profiling and police brutality around the country.

Sanchez addressed how legislature plays a part in the movement for equality, saying, “I said this back in the ’60s and a lot of people got on my case about it, but you can’t rely on laws being passed. We rely a lot on laws. We assume the laws will be there and not change, which is just not true.”

She continued, saying, “I think that we have to engage this country in a real dialogue about race and about what it means to be human on this Earth. Of course we should still work for certain laws to be passed, but after that, we should work to really implement those laws.”

“We have to make people understand the law,” Sanchez argued, “fight for the law and protect the law all along. We must always be vigilant about our rights.”

“Let’s listen to each other and forgive each other for slavery and genocide,” Sanchez concluded.