UWA partnering with Livingston community for program honoring life and legacy of MLK

Story: Lisa Sollie

A social change leader who helped inspire our nation to act on civil rights, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., has been honored and remembered on the third Monday in January for the past 37 years.

This year, the University of West Alabama community is commemorating the MLK holiday on Monday, Jan. 15, at 2:30 p.m. in collaboration with Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity Inc., Pi Delta Chapter of UWA and UWA’s Office of Diversity and Inclusion alongside FBC of Livingston. The event will be held at First Baptist Church of Livingston. The keynote speaker is civil and voting rights advocate Rev. Wendell Paris Sr.

Paris received the Martin Luther King Jr. Man of the Year Award in 1988. As a founding member of the Tuskegee Advancement League (TIAL), a campus organization affiliated with the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), Paris helped to register voters and participated in direct action campaigns in Alabama and Mississippi in the 1960s.

UWA Senior Brandon Williamson, president of the UWA chapter of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc., is excited about this year’s program and speaker and is proud to carry on the fraternity’s tradition to sponsor the annual MLK Day program as a way to honor Dr. King, who became a member of the national fraternity almost 60 years ago.

“Our Brother, Lloyd Maye, was the visionary behind the initiation of this program. Every year on Dr. King’s birthday, he would passionately emphasize the significance and lasting impact of Dr. King’s legacy and acknowledge the countless sacrifices and contributions made by Dr. King and other heroes during the Civil Rights Movement. As we embark on this year’s program, our goal is to take a profound journey through the remarkable life of Dr. King. It is indeed a great honor and privilege to continue to honor and recognize the great work of our beloved brother.”

According to Dr. Tre’ Finklea, UWA’s diversity, equity, and inclusion coordinator, this is the second year his office has partnered with the local chapter of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc. to commemorate Dr. King.

“Many people look at MLK Day as a day of service, and our office wanted to engage in a community project like this that promoted unity and equality. We believe this program that Brandon and the fraternity have put together emphasizes and encourages individuals to actively contribute to positive changes in the community here in Livingston,” Finklea noted.

UWA’s DEI office will provide refreshments for the program and volunteers to work the event from two UWA mentoring programs for African-American students, Black Gentlemen Coalition and Sustah2Sister.