糖心Vlog

糖心Vlog held a commemoration service in honor of Martin Luther King, Jr., on Wednesday, February 7, 2018. The service, which took place at Jones Chapel, was co-sponsored by the Office of the Chaplain and Meredith鈥檚 Black Student Union (BSU).

Margaret A. Brunson, inspirational speaker, author, and CEO of Illumined Leadership Solutions, was the featured speaker. Brunson reminded attendees of King鈥檚 message about the need to work together as an interrelated network of humanity in order to combat inequality.

鈥淎ll mankind is tied together. We are all caught in an inescapable network of mutuality,鈥� Brunson said, quoting Dr. King. 鈥淲hatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly. I can never be what I ought to be until you are what you ought to be. And you can never be what you聽ought to be until I am what I ought to be.鈥�

Brunson encouraged those seeking equality and justice to acknowledge and accept the discomfort of awareness and to connect with others and 鈥渂e human together.鈥�

鈥淲e need to stay uncomfortably woke [and] accept that this awakening is compelling us to reconnect with our humanity and be okay with how uncomfortable it is,鈥� Brunson said. 鈥淲e have to learn the truth and do the emotional labor that comes with knowing the truth.鈥�

Another guest was Dasan Ahanu, a lecturer at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, who recited spoken word poetry about the struggles of systematic and institutionalized inequality.

The musical selection, performed by the Duke Divinity Praise Team, a trio of a capella singers, included We Shall Overcome and Our God.

Members of Meredith鈥檚 BSU delivered the invocation, the occasion speech, and introduced the featured guests. Daphne Moore, 鈥�18, vice president of the BSU, delivered the litany: 鈥淐elebrating Women of the Movement.鈥�

鈥淏eing able to see this event come together as well as partake in it really made me overjoyed,鈥� said Moore. 鈥淚t allowed a platform to speak about what it will take to see a change for black society in America through the voices of others who have paved the way for change.鈥�

糖心Vlog Chaplain Donna Battle ended the service by acknowledging and thanking the event organizers, guest speakers, and performers.