Chadron State, community celebrate MLK Day

“It was successful beyond my wildest hopes. The panels were all well attended and all the panelists did a wonderful job,” Nesheim said. “There is always room for improvement, and next year I would like to see more Chadron State students in the march and on the panels, to greater diversify the panels.”

Many events, including a march and several discussions, involved students, as well as local school children when the community combined to celebrate the influential life of King.

To begin the day, four separate 50-minute discussions spanned the morning from 8 a.m. to noon, along with a documentary film, “Selma: The Bridge to the Ballot.”

Among the speakers was Michael Kennedy, Social and Communication Arts instructor, who discussed the impact photojournalism had on the Civil Rights Era. Kennedy focused his discussion on the story of Emmett Till, an African-American boy who was lynched by two Mississippi men in 1955. According to Kennedy, the before and after photos of Till’s face spread across America as an example of the shocking brutality of inequality that eventually led to Rosa Parks famously not giving up her bus seat.

“The mother and sister held an open-casket funeral to show the brutality of the attack,” Kennedy said.

Jovan Mays, Chadron State alumnus, also spoke to students, faculty and staff in the Student Center Ballroom Monday morning.

Mays, poet laureate for the city of Aurora, Colorado, said when he overheard racist comments during his underclassmen years at CSC, he often remained silent once the offending speaker clarified the reference was not directed at him. As a CSC upperclassman, however, he found his voice and spoke up in similar situations. He encouraged the audience to do the same.

“Don’t default to silence. Speak up for yourself or others when you hear racist remarks. Start those difficult conversations at the dinner table. Speak up a little bit. You can learn how to confront others without being argumentative,” Mays said. “You can start in small ways in your own area of influence.”

Along with Kennedy and Mays, Chadron State professors Nesheim, a Social and Communication Arts assistant professor, and Dr. G. W. Sandy Schaefer, professor of music, presented as well.

Following the morning discussions, students, faculty, staff and Chadron community members gathered at the intersection of Main and Third Streets for the annual MLK March, rerouting past Chadron Public Schools this year to pick up several hundred additional march participants. The march ended at the Chicoine Center and culminated in a program featuring Dr. Albert Bimper.

Bimper, an assistant professor in the Colorado State University department of ethnic studies and senior associate athletic director for diversity and inclusion, discussed the importance of recognizing all efforts towards equality and understanding the responsibility in our own lives.

“We all carry the same torch toward equality. Today, we remember Dr. King, but also everyone else who sacrificed,” Bimper said.

The estimated crowd of 620, also received a welcome from Chadron State President Dr. Randy Rhine and choir performances by Chadron High School and elementary students.