Vicky Smith
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Cameron Campus Ministry (CCM) and Cameron University will present the annual Martin Luther King Jr. Day Celebration banquet at 6:30 p.m. on Jan. 19 in the Aggie Rec Center.
Keynote speaker Eugene Robinson, a journalist for The Washington Post, will highlight “We’re Someplace We’ve Never Been: Race, Diversity and the New America.”
Tickets, which are $35 for adults and $15 for students, will be on sale until Jan. 12 and can be purchased by calling CCM at 357-7226.
Prior to the banquet, Robinson will attend an afternoon discussion, which is open to the public at no charge, starting at 2:30 in the MCC Ballroom.
Since Robinson joined The Washington Post three decades ago, he’s worked in various positions. Currently, he features a twice-weekly column. He speaks in light of his life experiences – from growing up in segregated South Carolina to his present career as an American journalist.
He won the 2009 Pulitzer Prize and was elected to the Pulitzer Prize Board a year later. He’s a member of the National Association of Black Journalists Hall of Fame, as well as a regular contributor to MSNBC. A published author, Robinson released his latest book, “Disintegration,” in 2010.
Monte Jones, co-director of CCM, said Robinson, though he does have his own history, is a supporter the present-day civil rights movement.
“He has relationships with persons that are involved in the civil rights movements,” Jones said, “not only African American persons but, in his case, he has broadened the scope of that to include people who are Caucasian, who are Oriental – various nationalities.
“He’s an advocate for the civil rights movement, and that’s why we’re bringing him here [to Cameron] because he’ll be speaking to: what is the current status of the civil rights movement that we can participate in, and what does that look like?”
Although strides have been taken overtime, Jones said social justice issues still exist.
“This day and time,” he said, “the sexual orientation aspects of the social justice issues, the continuing issues with women’s rights and their being given equal status in our culture and certainly around the globe – all of those things are under the umbrella of the civil rights movement.”
Jones said the event is an opportunity for the Lawton community to rejuvenate and reestablish civil bonds.
“We had ambassador Andrew Young [at the banquet] three years ago,” Jones said, “and he said, “Y’all are all already involved in the civil rights movement; it’s not a question of ‘shall we be,’ it’s ‘you are [and]… what are you doing in the midst of that involvement?’
“‘Anytime you sit down and you have a civil conversation with anybody, and you are able to freely dialogue without fear of intimidation, either on your part with them or their part with you, and finding consensus,’ he said, ‘you have created exactly what needs to be going on.’ That’s one of the things that’ll be happening through this event,” Jones said, “is there will be a lot of that dialogue taking place and new civility in Lawton.”
In conjunction with the Martin Luther King Jr. banquet, CCM recognizes community members and students through both the Martin Luther King Jr. Celebration Essay Contest and the Humanitarian Service Award.
The essays, which were due Nov. 21, will focus on the effects that Dr. King’s message and actions have had on one’s life. The winning essayists, which be one high school student and one college student, will be awarded $300. The winners will also have the opportunity to read their essays at the Jan. 19 celebration.
Submissions for the Humanitarian Service Award will be accepted until Dec. 15. Eligible candidates should be residents of the Lawton Ft. Sill community who are committed to the proclamation of all people’s worth and motivated to unify all people within the community. For additional information or a nomination form, contact CCM.