Staff Reporter

NIU students are preparing to commemorate the message of Martin Luther King Jr. with an annual march.

The NAACP, in conjunction with BROTHERS, will host its 10th annual MLK March on Jan. 25. The theme for this year is “Then and Now.” Nationally renowned journalist Tony Brown will be the evening’s guest speaker.

“The different ways that people recognize the King legacy will have an impact on how they live their lives,” said Roosevelt Griffin, a senior music education major. “The education system, on all grade levels, is a good foundation of the task of awareness.”

King, who was assassinated in Memphis, Tenn., on April 4, 1968, would have been 82 years old Monday. America celebrated his enduring legacy on the national holiday, including his involvement in the Civil Rights Movement.

Around the U.S., King’s former schools celebrated in their own way.

At Ingelnook Elementary in Birmingham, Ala., third- and fourth-graders learn year-round about King by listening to his speeches and writing about ways they can act in love and non-violence.

Meanwhile, students at Providence-St. Mel on Chicago’s West Side spent the nationally recognized holiday in school. Paul J. Adams, president of the K-12 independent school, marched with King in the 1960s and said King would have preferred that students be in school, not out on the streets.

“In the morning, students assembled in the school auditorium,” said Martin Glynn, director of corporate and foundation development at PSM. “Rev. Al Sampson [of Frenwood United Methodist Church] spoke on his relationship with Dr. King and his Seven Steps of Resistance and Non-Violence. After the assembly, we hosted an open house inviting the families of the students, local churches and community members to view presentations by the students. Each reflected on a different part of King’s life.”

King graduated from Morehouse College in Atlanta when he was 19. The school continues to praise the accomplishments of its famous alumnus.

“It’s a public holiday,” said Beverly Crane, executive secretary at Morehouse. “We aren’t in school that day; however, at the end of the week we host a full concert with the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra and the Glee Clubs from Morehouse and our sister-school, Spelman.”