Danny Glover addresses King’s civil rights legacy

Actor and producer Danny Glover proved Thursday that his interests go deeper than playing baseball with angels and getting into police chases.

Glover spoke to a full house in Memorial Hall as part of the 29th annual Martin Luther King Jr. Birthday Celebration.

Glover focused on the vision of King and his transformation from a civil rights leader to a human rights leader.

Glover said the “Civil Rights Movement King” was instrumental in bringing hope and vision to those who were disenfranchised and exploited.

But King’s work stretched beyond civil rights.

“To understand him, we must understand the process he went through,” Glover said.

Glover spoke about how the evils of materialism, militarism and racism spurred King’s involvement in human rights.

“When we spend more on war than on human beings, we are headed toward a moral crisis,” he said. “We are relinquishing our soul.”

Glover went on to ask the crowd what King would have thought of society today, from the expansion of the war in Afghanistan and the situation in Haiti to the collapse of parenthood and the current financial crisis.

“I don’t know if I’m integrating my people into a burning house,” Glover said, echoing King.

“Well, I guess we will have to become firemen,” he continued. “We have to preserve the house, rebuild the ideals of the house to challenge and rebuild our souls.”

Each human rights movement, from the labor movement to the abolition of slavery, expands democracy, Glover said. But for this expansion to be successful, it requires participation.

“We must understand this profound movement that we have — that provokes more truth, more justice and more love,” he said.

Glover said that as citizens, we must “recreate, re-imagine and re-believe” so America can fulfill the dream of equality upon which it was founded.

“We are the architects of our rescue,” he said.

Glover held a question-and-answer session after the speech where he shared his insights on topics from the value of vegetarianism to the importance of community service.

“He gave a completely unique perspective in regards to Dr. King’s vision,” senior Menna Mburi said about Glover’s talk.

“He seems like a brilliant man with a lot of world experience.”



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