Speaker honors Martin Luther King Jr. in address

CSB+SJU’s Martin Luther King Jr. Celebration Week culminated in a keynote address given by Rev. James Alberts on Jan. 19.

The address was organized and sponsored by Multicultural Student Services and CSB+SJU Campus Ministries. Student leaders from these organizations staffed the event and led table discussions following Alberts’s speech.

Alberts is a pastor of the Higher Ground Church of God in St. Cloud and the founder of the Higher Works Collaborative nonprofit. He is also a board member at the Collegeville Institute and the ISAIAH coalition for racial and economic justice. Alberts was joined at the event by Buddy King, director of operations at Higher Works Collaborative, who works closely with youth in the St. Cloud area.

Alberts was introduced by Malik Stewart, director of Multicultural Student Services, who explained the history of the celebration of Martin Luther King Day at CSB+SJU.

“There were no classes here at St. Ben’s and St. Johns on Monday, but that was not always the case,” Stewart said. “It was your predecessors…who demanded that we recognize this holiday with no classes four years ago.”

Sydney Robinson, CSB alumna and diversity and inclusion program manager at the Multicultural Center, was one of these former students who fought for this change.

“In 2019, a group of people from the Cultural Affairs Board, which I was part of, went to Senate and demanded that we had this day off,” Robinson said. “Being part of that group that got this day off to begin with, it’s really powerful to see everyone come together.”

The theme of this year’s MLK celebration week was Revolution of Values, which was based off King’s “Beyond Vietnam: A Time to Break the Silence” speech in 1967.

Alberts began his keynote address with a quote by Fred Hampton, another civil rights activist of the 60s and member of the Black Panthers. “I am a revolutionary,” he said, quoting Hampton, setting the reoccurring theme for the rest of his speech.

Alberts spoke on his belief in the importance of acting on conversations about racial justice and not just allowing them to go untouched after walking out the door.

“Nothing has altered, and nothing has changed, and it’s okay because it doesn’t necessarily affect you. But I’m still Black,” Alberts said. “Power and privilege is not an enigma. It’s been around for a very long time. What we can’t get mad at is the game…what you can do is determine whether or not you’re going to do something about it.”

Alberts also touched on what he believes was one of the original goals of some of King’s major protests in the 60s, which was the issue of solving poverty regardless of race in American communities.

“He knew addressing poverty was an easier fix than trying to deal with the racism. Revolutionary,” he said. “I’m going to fix racism by fixing poverty.”

Alberts described his experiences using the idea of being a revolutionary in his own community, as he explained how he intervened at a protest in St. Cloud following the death of George Floyd. The police department expressed concern that the gathering would turn into a riot, so Alberts stepped in. He allowed the crowd of hundreds to speak individually as they wanted with a megaphone, and the protest ended peacefully at the end of the night.

“No arrests, no guns. Peace,” he said.

CSB sophomore Lexi Torres said she believes this week of celebration is an opportunity for education and activism.

“I chose to come here tonight because social justice is very, very important to me,” she said. “Even if you don’t know a thing about Martin Luther King Jr. if you can sit here and be open-minded; you can soak up that knowledge like a sponge.”

Mei Ishiyama, CSB sophomore, said she attended to learn more about the history behind Martin Luther King Day.

“I didn’t know a lot about Martin Luther King. In Japan, we don’t have this holiday. I thought this would be a good chance to learn,” she said.

Following the conclusion of Alberts’s speech, individual table conversations began, facilitated by student leaders. SJU junior Wesley Kirchner led one of these table discussions.

“To be revolutionary we must organize, and to organize we need to communicate,” he said.

The discussions allowed participants to identify issues on campus they feel they would like to change or influence. Some of the issues mentioned by students included increased use of non-binary inclusive language on campus, justice for victims of sexual misconduct and support for students with divorced or single parents during various applications. Alberts joined discussions all around the room throughout the evening, participating in one-on-one or group conversations with students about what it would mean for them to be “revolutionaries.”

“Four generations from now there will be a version of you running around,” Alberts said. “And they will be able to say, ‘my ancestors were revolutionary.’”