The Longwood University community honored Martin Luther King, Jr. by presenting the words and vision of the Dalai Lama.
On Wednesday, Jan. 23, a group of Longwood students, faculty and staff volunteered to read excerpts of the Dalai Lama’s speech, “The Global Community,” outside the steps of the Lankford Student Union.
Leading the commemorative speech reading, Jonathan Page, lecturer of English and Modern Languages, said, “As I reflect on the Civil Rights leader who embraced everyone in love and faith, I can’t help but see Dr. King as not simply an American or an African-American, but as a citizen of the world and a global leader who inspired nonviolent liberation movements around the world. Dr. King presented us with a global vision of the world whose nations and people could triumph over the worst instances of poverty, racism, war and violence.”
Pagesaiditisdifficultformodernsocietytograsp the meaning of struggling for civil rights. “People today may look at the dream of racial equality and simply see it as a quaint vision, but for its time it was a revolutionary vision for us to rise up as one to confront and put an end to the injustices that the world ignored for generations.”
Commenting on King’s legacy, Page said, “He acted because a threat to freedom and injustice anywhere is a threat to freedom and injustice everywhere.”
“His legacy still lives in the world in anyone who understands that the only way to transform the jangling discords of our nation into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood is to work together, struggle together and stand up for freedom together,” added Page.
“The dreams we have for our families, our communities and our world all matter,” said Page. He said leaders should always look to the future. “Our re-envisioned dream then should be to create a global community, but this will require a qualitative change in our souls as well as a quantitative change in our lives,” he added.
Page said, “The key to realizing this vision is to remember that all life is interrelated, and whatever affects one directly affects all indirectly. Therefore, we must develop a sense of universal responsibility.”
In the Dalai Lama’s “The Global Community,” it reads, “To meet the challenge of our times, human beings will have to develop a greater sense of universal responsibility. Each of us must learn to work, not just for his or her own self, family or nation, but for the benefit of all mankind.”
The Dalai Lama further wrote, “Universal responsibility is the real key to human survival. It is the best foundation for world peace, the equitable use of natural resources, and through concern for future generations, the proper care of the environment.”
Longwood alumnus and Admissions Counselor James Bland read his own commemorative thoughts at the Speech Reading, saying, “We have come a long way as a country, but there is still work to be done.”
Bland asked the audience what they were doing for others. “I charge you to remember the time is always right to do what is right. I charge you to live with something that is bigger than yourself because an individual has not started living until he can rise above the narrow confines of his individualistic concerns to the broader concerns of all humanity. “
As for what people can do to keep the vision of King and the Dalai Lama alive, Page said, “The dream still exists today ... What we must do is continue to be the change we wish to see in the world as we remember the dream, embrace for struggle and continue the journey.”
