Celebration Marks Anniversary of MLK’s Famed Letter

This week, Rockhurst University will celebrate the life and legacy of civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. in a whole new way.

Normally, the University schedules its MLK Day celebration in January to honor King’s birthday. However, COVID-19 means things look a little different this year as a result of the later start to the spring semester.

Instead of honoring King’s birth, the week’s activities will instead be in recognition of one of King’s most famous pieces of writing, “Letter from a Birmingham Jail,” written on April 16, 1963.

The letter was written from an Alabama jail cell as a response to a group of white clergy criticizing the tactics of nonviolent civil disobedience King championed. In his defense of the moral breaking of unjust laws, King provided a cornerstone document of the civil rights movement. According to Cecilia Samonte, Ph.D., associate professor of history who teaches a course on protest movements, its influence can still be felt today throughout the world.

“Centered on the history, purpose and methods of nonviolent resistance, King's letter serves as a continuing source of courage and inspiration for underrepresented communities who harness nonviolent direct action,” she said.

The campus recognition of King's legacy and the work’s impact, organized by a committee of faculty, staff and students and sponsored by a number of campus groups and offices, began Monday, with signs on Kinerk Commons bearing QR codes that will link visitors to student video reflections on MLK’s legacy. The signs will remain available throughout the week.

At 3 p.m. on Friday, the University will host a celebration on campus, with the Urban Café food truck, Ruby Jean’s Juicery kiosk and the Kansas City Marching Cobras drill team on campus before a short program at 3:30 p.m. featuring student musicians and poets delivering original spoken word poems inspired by King’s letter.

And on Saturday, the weeklong observance comes to a close with a morning of service from 9 a.m. to noon — students, faculty, staff and young alumni are invited to help in the continued cleanup of the steps in front of Paseo Academy of Fine and Performing Arts northeast of campus, an ongoing project kickstarted by Ruby Jean’s founder Chris Goode to turn the site into an outdoor community fitness center.