“The mighty man of the gospel will always dwell among us.” So ended last night’s tribute to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. by social commentator and political activist Lu Palmer.

A small but enthusiastic crowd gathered last night in the Carl Sandburg Auditorium to hear Palmer, the host of two radio programs in Chicago, (“Lu’s Notebook” and “On Target”) speak at a memorial celebrating the birthday of King.

Palmer knew King when the former was working as a journalist on the now defunct Chicago Daily News in the late 1960s. When speaking of the slain Civil Rights leader, Palmer states, “No one could ever be quite the same as a consequence of his presence and his profundity.”

“We are here not only to pay tribute, but also to rededicate ourselves to his cause,” Palmer said. “It’s unfortunate, but often people don’t think of Dr. King until the time of his birthday each year.”

King’s cause, as much as the man himself, was the topic of Palmer’s speech. The political practices of the Reagan administration were also questioned by this member of the Black Independent Political Organization.

Palmer announced that the “Reagan regime has reversed much of the progress that minorities have made since Dr. King’s day. The regressive moves of Reaganism have put a stop to much of the social evolving that blacks, women and all minorities have accomplished in these years.”

“It is not enough that blacks can now sit at the front of the bus. We should also be able to drive that bus and, in fact, own the entire bus company,” he said.

Palmer added, “We should take his reason for living and dying and regroup, be vigilant and be vocal. Organized protest is unquestionably an alternative. After all, only a wheel that squeaks gets oiled.”

Palmer was invited to speak at NIU by the Student Association Minority Relations Committee and the Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity. “We were both looking for a way to pay tribute to Dr. King and at the same time make everyone conscious of Black awareness,” said Tina White, chairperson of the SA committee.

“We were really happy to have Lu Palmer come to speak tonight,” said Alpha Phi Alpha President William Ivy. “Not only does he know a lot about Reverend King, but both he and King were members of this fraternity.”