Journalist’s address is keynote of Black History Month observance
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Award-winning journalist Roland Martin delivered the University of
Mississippi’s Black History Month keynote address Wednesday evening at
the Ford Center for the Performing Arts. Before the lecture, Martin
discussed the importance of observing Black History Month.
OXFORD, Miss. – National award-winning journalist Roland Martin issued a challenge Wednesday evening at the University of Mississippi to create change, one person at a time.
As the keynote speaker for UM’s Black History Month observance, Martin suggested that simply living in a multicultural world cannot alone break down the barriers that separate us as people. Real change comes when one person decides to alter his or her own surroundings, he said.
{rokbox title=|Roland Martin :: CNN contributor Roland S. Martin was at Ole Miss to give the keynote address for Black History Month.| thumb=|images/stories/rolandvid.jpg| size=|500 310| album=|demo|}http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q8MdIqBsjPg{/rokbox}
“What you have to do today to create change for tomorrow is recognize
that you have the absolute power to change whatever it is that bothers
you on this campus, this city, this state and this country,” Martin
said. “Stop complaining and get to work.”
During his remarks at the Gertrude C. Ford Center for the Performing
Arts, Martin challenged those in attendance to create a new legacy of
tomorrow. He encouraged the audience to find one thing they are
passionate about, and then strive to make their dream a reality.
“At some point, this generation has to say it is time for us to give back,” he said. “We have to care enough about tomorrow, today.”
The message was received by both students and faculty. Brittney Smith, president of UM’s Black Student Union, said her goal to create change centers on making the social scene on campus more diverse.
“The speech tonight was very, very refreshing,” said Smith, a senior from Abbeville. “I want to try to make a change here at Ole Miss, even if I’m the only one. One person at a time, right?”
For Charles Ross, UM chair of African-American Studies, Martin’s address was profound. He said to hear from a rising black journalist in America inspired him to create change, and he plans to challenge young black men who allow their pants to sag.
“The propensity of young African-American males to wear their pants half-off bothers me,” Ross said. “We have to teach these young men to present themselves in a fashion that demonstrates that they have character. It may be a small thing, but ultimately even just one man may think about ways to redefine himself.”
While comedic in his approach, Martin’s lecture focused on UM’s Black History Month theme “Legacy of Hope – Promise for Tomorrow.”
“If you don’t move forward on your individual challenge, then nothing changes,” Martin said.
Named by Ebony Magazine in 2008 as one of the 150 Most Influential African-Americans in the United States, Martin is the 2008 winner of the NAACP Image Award for Best Interview for “In Conversation: The Sen. Barack Obama Interview.”
A provocative analyst, Martin is a nationally syndicated columnist with Creators Syndicate, an analyst for CNN, and author of “Listening to the Spirit Within: 50 Perspectives on Faith” (Romar Media Group, 2007) and “Speak, Brother! A Black Man’s View of America” (Romar Media Group, 2002).