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Dr. King, right, with Republic of Ghana President Kwame Nkrumah. Nkrumah, the godfather of modern democracy in Africa, credited Dr. King and Mahatma Gandhi as mentors in developing non-violent mass resistance to free his people from British colonial rule. |
“The minute I knew I was coming to Ghana I had a very deep emotional feeling. A new nation was being born. I wanted to be involved in it, be a part of it, and notice the birth of this new nation with my own eyes. The trip, which included visits to other countries of Africa and several stops in Europe, was of tremendous cultural value and made possible many contacts of lasting significance. I thought that this event, the birth of this new nation, would give impetus to oppressed peoples all over the world. I thought it would have worldwide implications and repercussions-not only for Asia and Africa, but also for America. I realized that there would be difficulties. Whenever you have a transition, whenever you are moving from one system to another there will be definite difficulties, but I thought that there was enough brainpower, enough determination, enough courage and faith to meet the difficulties as they developed. When I hear, ‘People aren’t ready,’ that’s like telling a person who is trying to swim, ‘Don’t jump in that water until you learn how to swim.’ When actually, you will never learn how to swim until you get in the water. People have to have an opportunity to develop themselves and govern themselves.”
Clayborne Carson, ed., The Autobiography of Martin Luther King, Jr.(New York: Warner Books, 1998)
Plan to attend
The 2007 Martin Luther King Jr. Day commemoration, sponsored by UNMC and The Nebraska Medical Center, is from noon to 1 p.m. today in the Storz Pavilion on the lower level of Clarkson Tower. The program is free and open to the public.
Speaking at the event will be Valda Boyd Ford, director of the UNMC/The Nebraska Medical Center Community and Multicultural Affairs.
Ford is an internationally-acclaimed educator and strategist on diversity and multicultural initiatives who has extensive experience providing health services at some of the world’s largest refugee camps. She will focus on this aspect of her career and Dr. King’s worldview during her lecture, which is titled, “Extending the Dream: Realizing the Nightmare of Third World Refugees.”
For more information, contact Walter Brooks at 559-5768 or send an e-mail to wbrooks@unmc.edu.