Fifty years years after Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech, the phrase “Living together in peace” was the centerpiece for the Realizing the Dream program put on by The University of Alabama, the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, Stillman College and Shelton State Community College. Streets and auditorium seats were filled throughout the weekend as hundreds came out to honor the legacy of Martin Luther King Jr. and the honorees that were selected for upholding and living by these same ideals.
On Sunday, John Legend, nine-time Grammy winner, actor and philanthropist, headlined the Realizing the Dream concert with a lecture on educational inequality, which he sees as the next major civil rights issue facing the current generation.
“You can say that all people are created equal, you can even put [it] into law, but with severe educational disparities, with schools and neighborhoods being neglected while others are getting all of the resources they need, there is no way that we can say that all people get an equal shot at the American dream,” Legend said.
Legend then concluded by performing a small selection of songs including “All of Me,” “Ordinary People” and “Green Light,” in the Moody Music Concert Hall. Following his performance, the audience joined hands and sang “We Shall Overcome,” which has become the traditional conclusion for the Legacy Concert.
The weekend began with the Legacy Banquet Friday night in Foster Auditorium and featured John Cochran, a University of Alabama graduate and award-winning ABC and NBC correspondent, as the special guest speaker for the evening. Cochran told several personal stories and openly shared memories from his childhood and his experiences with racial injustice growing up.
“All of those people trying to realize Dr. King’s dream are very important,” William Tubbs, an attendee of the Legacy Banquet, said. “Getting together to realize the dream is really just about getting people together of all creeds and races and realizing that we are all just one people. The sooner we realize this, the better the world will be.”
Following Cochran’s address, Melanie Gotz, a senior at the University and a leader in the recent desegregation of sororities on campus; Cleophus Thomas, a UA alumnus; and Roger Sayers, former president of the University, were all embraced by President Judy Bonner as they received their awards for “Realizing the Dream” and contributing to King’s legacy.
Sayers said the series aims to encourage social change through music, inspiring performances and community.
“Painfully aware of the state’s history and all of the terrible things that happened, whether it was with Bull Conner or the Freedom Riders, that was part of the reason that we decided to do something proactive in establishing ‘Realizing the Dream.’ Trying to help people improve their attitudes towards one another, and you know music is always a good vehicle by which to do that. It kind of soften[s] the rigid views of people,” Sayers said.
The festivities came to a close Monday with a march from Martin Luther King Jr. Elementary School to the Tuscaloosa City Hall in homage to the many marches of the Civil Rights movement.
