'The fierce urgency of now'
For his 1967 speech “Beyond Vietnam: A Time to Break Silence,” Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. wrote:
"We are now faced with the fact, my friends, that tomorrow is today. We are confronted with the fierce urgency of now. In this unfolding conundrum of life and history, there is such a thing as being too late. Procrastination is still the thief of time.”
For 44 years, Seattle Colleges has presented an annual Community Celebration of Martin Luther King, Jr. This year educator, musician and community organizer Benjamin Hunter gave the keynote address: “Make America Again.”
Hunter is the founder of Community Arts Creates, an organization that promotes the arts as a bridge to community, and the co-founder of the Hillman City Collaboratory, a social change incubator.
This event took place on January 13 at Mt. Zion Baptist Church. Other speakers included students from the John Stanford International School, Seattle Mayor Ed Murray, Reverend Aaron Williams, Seattle Colleges Chancellor Shouan Pan and Seattle Central College President Sheila Edwards Lange. The emcee was KIRO7’s Deborah Horne. Music was provided by Rodger Pegues and DaNell Daymon and Greater Works.
Listen to the full event below:
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John O'Brien
Producer
John O’Brien is a KUOW newsroom producer. He works with the Morning Edition and All Things Considered teams to schedule, record, and edit interviews and stories on a variety of topics, from politics and public health to arts and culture. He learned to make radio in 2006 as an intern on KUOW’s The Conversation and is a former host of KUOW's Speakers Forum.
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