Martin Luther King III aimed his message at students Monday night: “You are the catalysts of change.”
“Students here at Mississippi State University are involved in a variety of activities and they need to give something back to their community,” King said to a crowd of more than 500 students, staff and community members.
“I never thought when I was growing up that so many people of so many different backgrounds would hold such high positions all over the country,” King said.
King’s visit started at a breakfast hosted by the Holmes Cultural Diversity Center and the office of the vice president of external affairs. His remarks centered on his work as president and CEO of the Atlanta based King Center, which promotes non-violent solutions to world issues.
At the student leadership luncheon, King addressed questions from professors and student leadership. He also delved into his relationship with his father, who died when he was 10 years old.
“My father always made time for us [King and his three siblings],” he said. “Sometimes that play time had to be inside because of people recognizing us,” King added, laughing.
King said he wanted to help children and young adults to achieve equality.
“It was refreshing to hear Mr. King speak of his relationship with his father,” said interim Vice President for Student Affairs Jimmy Abraham. “It reminds us all that family is indeed a key proponent of society today.”
King said that even though many advancements have been made, his father’s dream has yet to be achieved.
“We are a lot closer than we ever have been, but there is still a lot of work to be done,” he said.
“I don’t know if we will ever achieve true equality as long as there is prejudice and hatred in the hearts of Americans,” King said. “We need to be sensitive to the needs of other people, not only of our own race, but of all races, all peoples, no matter what we look like. If we were an eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth society, a lot of us would be eyeless and toothless.”
King made fans out of many in the audience.
“Mr. King made me feel like compassion is the key to the advancement of our society as a whole, and violence is really not the answer,” said sophomore computer sciences major John Bradley. “Maybe one day Dr. King’s dream really will come true, if all of us really do care about one another.”