Carrying signs that said “embracing the dream” and “choose love over hate,” hundreds of students, faculty, staff and community members marched across the snow-covered Denison University campus in honor of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. on Jan. 19, the anniversary of the slain civil rights leader’s birthday.
They sang the gospel song “We Shall Overcome,” and shouted “none of us is free until all of us are free,” as they marched against a bitter north wind.
The march was followed by a brunch and speeches at Denison’s Mitchell Recreation Center, a series of workshops focused on King’s legacy and civil rights leaders who continued his efforts toward social justice and unity, concluding with an evening keynote speech by Hasan Kwame Jeffries, an Ohio State University history professor who teaches, researches, and writes about the African American experience with a focus on historical understanding and civic engagement.