UT Martin holds annual event for MLK Day
MARTIN, Tenn. — A West Tennessee student and college president spoke at a Martin Luther King Jr. Day celebration.
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Justice Watkins, UT Martin student, event speaker. Photo courtesy of the University of Tennessee at Martin.
Justice Watkins, UT Martin student, event speaker. Photo courtesy of the University of Tennessee at Martin.
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Johnny Shanklin (right), Harold Conner Award presented by Mayor Randy Brundige.Photo courtesy of the University of Tennessee at Martin.
Johnny Shanklin (right), Harold Conner Award presented by Mayor Randy Brundige.Photo courtesy of the University of Tennessee at Martin.
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Joyce Washington, Alpha Award recipient, presented (l, r) by Alpha Phi Alpha members Darius
Holland, Braxton Hobson, Jamarion Huggins, Keshawn Glover, Creg Claybrook and Shuan Harris. Photo courtesy of the University of Tennessee at Martin.
Joyce Washington, Alpha Award recipient, presented (l, r) by Alpha Phi Alpha members Darius
Holland, Braxton Hobson, Jamarion Huggins, Keshawn Glover, Creg Claybrook and Shuan Harris. Photo courtesy of the University of Tennessee at Martin.
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Demetrius Robinson, Torch Award, presented by UT Martin student Nia Tate. Photo courtesy of the University of Tennessee at Martin.
Demetrius Robinson, Torch Award, presented by UT Martin student Nia Tate. Photo courtesy of the University of Tennessee at Martin.
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President Logan Hampton, Lane College, event speaker. Photo courtesy of the University of Tennessee at Martin.
President Logan Hampton, Lane College, event speaker. Photo courtesy of the University of Tennessee at Martin.
The University of Tennessee at Martin’s Black Student Association held their annual MLK Day Celebration and Breakfast on Monday.
The event saw UT Martin student Justice Watkins and Lane College president Dr. Logan Hampton speak to attendees about King’s impact.
Watkins, a a mechanical engineering student from Memphis, talked about the need to appreciate King, according to the university.
“To truly appreciate something, you much understand both the victory and the cost it took to obtain victory,” he told the audience. “Dr. Martin Luther King was arrested more than 29 times, and despite all the accomplishments, he still had many within his own community question his character and his true motives.”
In Hampton’s speech, he told the audience there is still work to be done.
“On this King holiday, as we celebrate civil rights heroes, we need remember the high cost of bigotry, divorce ourselves of our biases, challenge our prejudices, and eliminate the possibility of racism in our lives,” he said. “Racism is expensive. Prejudice is expensive. Bigotry is expensive. We need to remember anew that God made each of us, and God has a purpose for each of us.”
The annual Martin Luther King Jr. Celebration and Breakfast began back in 2013.
You can read more about this year’s event here.
