On Jan. 16 Indiana Wesleyan university hosted its twelfth annual MLK celebration.
The event included a jazz combo, gospel choir worship, art, community engagement and a message.
Keenan Davis, director of college and community collaborations at IWU, was the speaker.
“There is value in unity. We will always acknowledge the things missing in society. People naturally gravitate towards negativity,” Davis said. “And it all stems from, there’s no unity.”
Dr. Karen Dowling, executive vice president and chief people and culture officer, opened the celebration.
Dowling emphasized the ability to unite through the annual celebration.
“(The MLK Celebration is) bringing the community together with students and all of our different units of the university, so that we can be a community and celebrate together and hear a message of hope and unity,” Dowling said.
The event was hosted in the Barnes Student Center Commons.
“We love this space because there are multiple ways of entering and exiting, but when you’re in the space, you’re in it together,” Dowling said.
The entire event was Christ centered.
We want to do Christ’s redemptive and reconciliatory work through this celebration, you saw that with worship, and you saw that with message and art,” Dowling said.
Addie Davis performed alongside her fellow Black Student Union (BSU) executive team members.
Posters read “With this faith” and “Stand up for freedom” while Davis performed a self choreographed dance to the song “the journey” by H.E.R. and snippets of MLK’s speeches.
“How can I show all of what MLK embodied and how we can carry that in performance,” Davis said.
The performance was inspired by the Netflix movie “The Six Triple Eight” by Tyler Perry about the all African American battalion.
Approaching MLK weekend Davis emphasized the importance of reflecting on three questions.
“How am I carrying the torch of that dream? The second one would be, am I a dreamer? Third one is, how am I promoting brotherhood or unity or sisterhood or community,” Davis said.
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