2017 MLK Commemorative Speech:NAACP President Cornell Brooks

At the beginning of the semester I had the tremendous honor of getting to see the president and CEO of the NAACP, Cornell William Brooks, speak at our Athenaeum. His entire talk was centered around Martin Luther King Jr. Day, so he used some of his skills as a former preacher in becoming the great orator necessary to give Dr. King some of his due respect. He spoke much about the vision of Dr. King and the ongoing struggle for racial equality, but with a hope, quoting Dr. King's "the arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends towards justice." He also talked about the #BLACKLIVESMATTER movement and what they are doing right in making the conversation of race something that America is talking about. It was particularly awe-inspiring when he spoke about his meeting with then-President Obama and a number of notable BLM activists, along with police chiefs, about what America can do to ameliorate the situation regarding relations between cops and Black people, really showing his dedication to the topic. I was hoping for more of a political commentary during his talk but he mostly focused on Dr. King, his life, and his legacy, but I did have the honor of meeting and speaking with him before and after his talk, bringing the reality of what I am doing right now in relation to race and politics. It is one thing to see fellow Black people doing well, but it is a whole other thing to personally speak with the president of the NAACP, and I am still wrapping my head around my worth and privilege to be able to meet with someone who was meeting with President Obama just weeks prior. Wow.