The year was 1967 when a man with the voice of a true orator shared his dream of peace and equality to Sacramento State students. That man was none other than Martin Luther King Jr. King made a special trip to the campus Oct. 16, 1967, speaking to thousands of students about the now-historical civil rights movement after receiving an invitation from the University’s Cultural Programs Committee. On that day, a crowd of more than 7,000 piled into what was then an open soccer field and now the location of Alex Spanos Sports Complex. In honor of King’s speech 40 years later, the University Union will host a keynote speech by Clayborne Carson, a history professor at Stanford University who has studied the life and works of King, and a panel discussion with Juan Williams, author and senior correspondent on National Public Radio’s Morning Edition. “We are excited about the powerful keynotes speaking at the celebration,” said Kim Harrington, co-chairperson of the MLK committee. Harrington said during the 1960s Sacramento State students had seen a society in transition. “Many people think of the ’60s and think of the ‘Summer of Love’ but there were race riots going on,” Harrington said. “And what students were seeing was a civil rights movement not working, so faculty and students decided to write to Dr. King.” The celebration will focus on King’s ideas presented through his “Beyond Vietnam” speech, which was a declaration of independence from the war in Vietnam and originally delivered by King six months prior to visiting Sacramento State at Riverside Church in New York City. Carson and Williams will also discuss the current state of affairs 40 years later. “The idea is that my adult life began with Dr. King at the ‘March on Washington,'” Carson said. “I was 19 and still in college; back then I never would have imagined I’d study King some 40 years later.” Carson said the inspiration he received from the civil rights leader gave his life a mission. “I saw him again when he came to UCLA and a few times thereafter, but never did have the chance to meet him,” Carson said. “At the time I was like most students; I wanted to go to school to get a better job than those who came before.”

In studying King, he learned how oppressed people were striving to free themselves. “There weren’t any classes on that at the time,” he said. Throughout his more than 30 years of teaching at Stanford, Carson worked on efforts to change the curriculum. “It has always amazed and disturbed me on how the majority of people gained their freedom. It’s not the story that has been told in universities except until recent times,” he said. Carson said the point of view of those other than popular opinion is starting to be told, but there is still more insight to be gathered and learned. “There needs to be another story told – the story of the struggle of imperialism, racism,” he said. The center of attention he works on is the understanding of global imperialism of Kings ideas. “I think the struggle for social justice is an ongoing social struggle. It just changes its form,” Carson said. “From Jim Crow laws in the South to the apartheid in South Africa, colonialism and systematic racism – eliminating those is a major accomplishment.” Carson emphasized the fact that our society is no utopia and there are still many struggles facing the 21st century. “There are huge discrepancies in opportunities between most people from elitists of the west to the rest of the world,” he said. Carson said fighting current society’s ills “will take new leaders, new fights, new struggles to be taken on by the new Gandhi’s, the new Martin Luther King’s of the world.” “And it’s my job to tell that story so it inspires others for the future,” he said. That is why Carson said he continues to be involved in the publishing the works of King as director of The Martin Luther King, Jr., Research and Education Institute. In 1985, the late Coretta Scott King invited Carson to direct a long-term project to edit and publish her husband’s papers. This project was initiated by the King Center in Atlanta and is conducted by the King Institute at Stanford in association with the King Estate. Under Carson’s direction, the King Papers Project, a component of the Institute, has produced six volumes of The Papers of Martin Luther King Jr. He has also written or co-edited numerous other works based on the papers, including A Knock at Midnight: Inspiration from the Great Sermons of Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr., The Autobiography of Martin Luther King, Jr., and compiled from the King’s autobiographical writings; and A Call to Conscience: The Landmark Speeches of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.. “It’s not done just for nostalgia, but for the social change and inspiration it leads us to,” Carson said.

Lana Saipaia can be reached at [email protected]