The work and vision of Martin Luther King Jr. must be continued today, Harvard Law Professor Charles J. Ogletree said Monday at a Memorial Church service commemorating the life of the slain civil rights leader.
About 150 students gathered at the annual memorial service to hear Ogletree explore the contemporary legacy of King's life and untimely death in a speech titled "Reflections on the Dream."
While the United States has made significant progress in civil rights since the 1963 assassination of King, the nation's present state of affairs still demands attention, he said.
Citing the proliferation of urban violence, illiteracy and drug addiction among the nation's minorities, the law professor called for a "national strategy" to continue the movement for change begun by King.
Ogletree also said King's message should not be restricted to the situation of Black Americans; "from South Central to South Boston, from Southern Lebanon to South Africa, the people are waiting for us," the professor said. On a more optimistic note, Ogletree said, "Kinghas never left us...we have come too far to giveup or turn back." Ogletree called for a renewed global awarenessof ethnic strife and racial prejudice and urgedthe initiation of "another 25 years of activism." The professor concluded, "in the spirit of Dr.King's life and death we must go forward." The service included readings by the Rev.Claudia Highbaugh, chaplain at the HarvardDivinity School, and Rev. Thomas J.S. Mikelson,minister of the First Parish Church in Cambridge,as well as a performance by the Kuumba Singers. The service was followed by a reception hostedby the Harvard Foundation for Intercultural andRace Relations. S. Allen Counter, director of the foundation,said he was surprised by the substantial studentturnout in spite of bad weather and exam-timepressure, and he called the service a success. Ogletree also remarked on the diversity of theaudience, which was made up primarily of students.While Ogletree said he thought that studentawareness of the holiday was "very good," he saidhe would have liked to see more of a facultypresence at the service
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