Speaker: Individuals Can, Must Make a Difference

The lesson of the Reverend Martin Luther King and civil rights activists is "not only how individuals can make a difference, but how individuals must make a difference," said historian Konrad Hamilton in his address to the 2008 King Day Convocation on Monday, Jan. 21 at Knox College.

"The great problems of our time will not be solved solely by electing the right president," said Hamilton, associate professor of history and chair of the American Studies Program at Knox. "Grassroots pressure" is necessary, he said, because "politicians of any party generally follow the path of least resistance."

In addition to activism, Hamilton also stressed political participation.

"It is ironic that King and his followers risked and sacrificed so much for the right to vote, and that so many eligible Americans refuse to vote, or even to register," Hamilton said.

The audience at the public convocation included a large number of prospective students. More than 500 prospective students and their families attended an open house Monday on the Knox campus.

In his introductory remarks to the convocation, Knox College President Roger Taylor noted that Knox had been founded in 1837 by anti-slavery activists who opened the college to students regardless of race.

"We have long known that Hiram Revels, who went on to become the first African-American to serve in the United States Senate, attended Knox in 1856-57," Taylor said. "Thanks to the work of Dr. Matt Norman, a history major and graduate of Knox in 1993, we have recently learned that another black student attended Knox in the 1850s -- Varveel Florville from Springfield, whose father was believed to have been a friend of Abraham Lincoln."

Also speaking at the convocation were Knox Vice President and Dean Lawrence Breitborde, and associate professor Magali Roy-Fequiere. Students Lindsey Murrell and Shanna Nicole Collins read poetry selections and the Umoja Gospel Choir, directed by associate professor Jessie Dixon, performed several songs.

President Roger Taylor speaks at the King Day Convocation

Konrad Hamilton

Umoja Gospel Choir