丝瓜视频APP

Reading time: 4 minutes

Bernice King, daughter of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., recently delivered the 2017 address for 丝瓜视频APP鈥檚 annual Martin Luther King Jr. Celebration. She inspired a full auditorium of students, faculty and staff, but one student had the opportunity of a lifetime to meet her hero up close.

Jordan Coker, senior communications major, was assigned to cover the Martin Luther King Jr. Celebration for Pawprint, Maryville鈥檚 student newspaper. As a reporter, she was invited to interview King following her presentation. The two met briefly in the Green Room, a small guest room located behind the stage.

鈥淲hile I have many heroes, there aren’t many African-American women,鈥� Coker said. 鈥淚 will remember the day I met a woman I aspire to be. I will remember the day I met a true American treasure with a truly pure heart.鈥�

King serves as CEO of the in Atlanta, Ga., a resource and programming institution dedicated to advancing her father鈥檚 work and legacy. Coker asked King questions about growing up as the daughter of Martin Luther King Jr., how people can best respond to social injustices and inequality in America, and about King鈥檚 own work in these areas. She was most impressed by King鈥檚 answer to a question about whether she felt much was expected of her as the daughter of such a beloved public figure.

鈥淜ing talked about how her mother told her to not worry about what her father did or what her mother did, but to only worry about being her best self,鈥� Coker said. 鈥淭hat speaks to me, but more profoundly towards her. She did say, 鈥榃ho could do better than Dr. King?鈥� so it is inspiring to hear that she felt comfortable making her own path in life.鈥�

Coker doesn鈥檛 intend to make journalism her career, but she does have long range goals that were crystallized while interviewing King.

鈥淚 am currently looking to start out in corporate communications, but moving forward it is important to me that I make an impact on the world for the better, much like King,鈥� she said. 鈥淒own the road I see myself working on a communications team for an organization like the ACLU or the NAACP.”

Bernice King鈥檚 Message

King encouraged the standing room-only audience to engage in meaningful conversations with diverse people鈥攅specially those with whom we disagree.

鈥淭he key going forward is for us to find a way, in all of our great and grand diversity, to create a pathway for us to coexist in this world we have been given,鈥� King said.

King reminded listeners of her father鈥檚 challenge to learn to live together as brothers and sisters 鈥� or perish together as fools. 鈥淗e encouraged us to look at the fact that we live in an interconnected world,鈥� King says.

Our tendency today, she said, is to break those connections.

鈥淲e have to grapple with our ideologies and belief systems, and many people are deciding when it鈥檚 not what I want to hear I unfriend you, I cancel you, I cut off the link. I turn away from you. I shut you down,鈥� King said. 鈥淭he very thing that we point out as being a problem, we are becoming. And that鈥檚 why my father鈥檚 philosophy and methodology are so important. Because the ground rules are community at all costs. That means I can鈥檛 have a no-talk policy. That means I have to try to find a way to commit myself to keeping the dialogue going.鈥�

We have a responsibility as citizens, King said, to 鈥渞ise up and be willing to go into spaces and places where we traditionally have been afraid to go鈥濃�攁 message Jordan Coker took to heart.

鈥淭he most recent election was a turning point in my life,鈥� Coker said. 鈥淏ernice King inspired me and so many others, saying that we still have a聽responsibility聽as 鈥榳e the people,鈥� and while so many others try to build walls, we must build bridges.”