Bloomington’s Martin Luther King Jr. celebration included music, honors, speeches, and stories to ignite change. A few hundred people showed up at the Buskirk-Chumley Theater Monday night to commemorate Dr. King’s birthday.
Former city leader and advocate Beverly Calender-Anderson received the legacy award. She said although retired, she’s just as busy as before.
“It seems like I really can't even slow down, because everything that I have worked for and so many of the people that I love and love are being threatened with erasure,” Calender-Anderson said.
She said she needs everyone’s help, whether that’s to protest, make a phone call, write a letter, or write a check to support a local nonprofit.
Acclaimed investigative journalist and filmmaker Keith Beauchamp called Bloomington vibrant and a city that welcomes people from diverse backgrounds.
Read more: ‘What does a dream look like for us today?’: IU celebrates MLK Day
“Yet even in our progressive communities, we are not immune to the challenges that Dr. King sought to address," Beauchamp said. "We still see divisions that separate us, misunderstandings that pit us against one another, and systemic issues that continue to marginalize entire groups of people."
He says the issues may look different today than they did during King’s day, but they are still present and require attention.
“Injustice in one part of the world or in community has ripple effects that and ultimately affect those who suffer the most from inequality,” he said.
Indiana University celebrated Martin Luther King Day Monday morning with a leadership breakfast at the Indiana Memorial Union.
