Professor Veryl Miles had an article published in Catholic Standard on January 13, 2024. In the article, Miles reflects on the legacy on of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., as well as the celebration of his legacy through service projects and educational programming at The Catholic University of America.
Click here to view the article.
Catholic Standard
Date: January 13, 2024
By: Veryl Miles
A Reflection on MLK Day
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This kind of programming during MLK Day is just as important as the service day activities we engage in honoring Dr. King’s life. For many of our students, the societal injustices that were the focus of the Civil Rights Movement were the lived experiences of their grandparents, and even for some of their parents, many of whom attended segregated schools, lived in segregated neighborhoods, and often experienced limited access to meaningful government services and equal employment opportunities. In truth this is a very recent history as well as a persistent condition for many in America today.
The current level of vitriol in national conversations about “diversity, equity and inclusion,” erosion of the Voting Rights Act, legal and legislative actions targeting affirmative action, prohibitions against teaching Black American history and books about the Black American experience in public schools, represent movement away from the social justice Dr. King and the Civil Rights Movement activists sought to advance and hostility toward basic notions of equity and justice. Now more than ever, remembering Dr. King and the history of the movement should be a part of the MLK Day experience.
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