History-making U of I professor to speak at Martin Luther King, Jr. Banquet
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IDAHO FALLS — The Idaho Falls African American Alliance is holding its 17th annual Martin Luther King, Jr. Banquet on Friday, Jan. 19. The theme for the event is “Owning our Past, Creating our Future.”
Dr. Sydney Freeman, Jr. will be the keynote speaker at this year’s banquet. Freeman made history as the first African American man to be made a full professor at the University of Idaho. His leadership has brought the university’s Black History Research Lab commendations from the U.S. Senate and Governor Brad Little.
Freeman says that a solid understanding of our past is essential when trying to make a community more inclusive and welcoming to all people. The past is a foundation to build on. We create a future of understanding, respect and acceptance by accepting the past and moving intentionally toward the future.
“I think it’s important to understand where you come from because that’s a basis on which you can then say, ‘Here’s where we are and where we’re going to go,'” Freeman tells EastIdahoNews.com.
David Snell helped start the Idaho Falls African American Alliance 18 years ago to help foster understanding between cultures and ethnicities. It began holding the banquet to honor the Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. and raise funds for the alliance’s man community scholarships.
Over the years, the alliance has hosted guests such as Dr. Walter Massey, past President of Morehouse College; Pete Miller, who served as the Undersecretary of Energy; and Freeman Hrabowski, voted one of TIME magazine’s “100 Most Influential People of 2012.”
The banquet, says Jolyn Thomas, one of the alliance’s leaders, is a great way to work toward King’s dream.
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“The banquet is really important because part of the African-American Alliance’s mission is to initiate important dialog,” she says. “When we come together as neighbors, and we share a meal, and we have conversations, I think that goes a long way in bridging the gap that exists.”
And if we’re unwilling to look at history and own our past? Thomas says we have no hope of coming together and finding strategies to make everyone feel welcome in our communities.
“The work is not just having the conversation,” Freeman adds. “The work is actually changing the practices so that everyone feels invited and included. So what I will be focusing on in our conversation tomorrow is ways in which we can … move from theory to practice.”
The Martin Luther King, Jr. Banquet will be held at the Mountain America Center, 1690 Event Center Drive, in Idaho Falls, on Friday from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. Tickets can be purchased here. Reservations can be made by calling (208) 918-6229, (208) 360-8708 or (208) 569-6768.
“I’m hoping that people leave (the banquet) with a sense of hope about, ‘Let’s be intentional about creating a community that is inclusive for all people, and we need to take intentional steps to do that,'” Freeman says.