Yolanda King speaks on power of diversity at Sage Chapel

Yolanda King

By Courtney Potts '06

"My father was a king ... a king who fought injustice with the shield of bravery and the sword of non-violence." This is how Yolanda King, the oldest daughter of celebrated civil rights activist Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., described her father to hundreds of students, faculty and community members who packed Sage Chapel Feb. 15 for Cornell's annual Martin Luther King Jr. Commemorative Lecture.

King, an actress and public speaker, frequently departed from the normal lecture format to present one-woman skits illustrating various moments in the civil rights movement. With the help of background music and small costume changes, she portrayed a range of characters from Rosa Parks to a young girl waiting to ride a desegregated bus for the first time, and to a college student who had been attacked by police dogs during a protest march in Montgomery, Ala.

Her talk "Open My Eyes, Open My Soul: Discovering the Power of Diversity," received a standing ovation.

Rev. Kenneth I. Clarke Sr., director of Cornell United Religious Work (CURW), provided opening remarks, thanking Cornell's MLK Jr. Commemoration Committee and sponsors of the event. He then went on to mention that Dr. King himself had spoken at Cornell twice; once in 1960 and again in 1961.

Clarke's comments were followed with a joint performance by the How Excellent and Pamoji-Ni Gospel choirs, both Cornell student groups. President Jeffrey S. Lehman introduced Yolanda King, saying that "the connection between Dr. King and [Sage Chapel] is powerful."

King played on a number of themes in her talk, including the power of choice and the universal benefits of achieving inner peace. But her presentation's main thrust was on unfinished business in the area of civil rights.

"The cause for which [Dr. King] lived is still a cause, and the dream for which he died is still a dream," she said. "We all have a role to play in moving us forward, and that's why honoring the memory of Martin Luther King Jr. is so important."

King said younger generations tend to lose sight of how recently these events occurred.

"For some of you," she said, "the civil rights movement might seem like ancient history," even though it was only 40 years ago.

She recounted a personal experience to emphasize the point. Following a performance, King had been introduced to a young boy who asked her several times if she really was Dr. King's daughter and, once assured, responded by asking "then why aren't you dead?"

King also said that educational institutions must accept significant responsibility for teaching tolerance and encouraging diversity. "Our object must be to teach and tell the story as if everyone matters," she said. "And indeed everyone does."

She urged the audience to seek out other cultures through foreign films, cultural events such as weddings and festivals, or even just talking to people online. But, she added, "I'm not suggesting you're off the hook because you can play Scrabble with someone from New Zealand."

On the subject of race, King mentioned that only 1 percent of our DNA distinguishes one human being from another.

"Too often we take that one percent and we pin a negative label on it," she said. "It is that small one percent that is typically the target of hate. We must celebrate the fact of our differences. We must celebrate differences until difference doesn't make a difference in how we treat each other."

Choice -- which King called "the last of human freedoms" -- was a major theme throughout the speech. "You can choose to be open or biased," King said. "You can choose to uplift someone or to hurt them."

Courtney Potts is a Cornell News Service writer intern.