Perpetuating the dream

By Adam Roberts

Senior Reporter

Entertainer Harry Belafonte spoke about race, poverty and his experience in the civil rights movement when he visited Oakland University Monday as part of OU’s Martin Luther King Jr. Day festivities. 


The event was not about Belafonte though; it was about six OU students who set themselves apart by promoting tolerance and understanding here at Oakland.


The 16th annual Keeper of the Dream award ceremony brought together the OU Community to remember the life of Dr.

Martin Luther King Jr. and recognize those who are living up to his spirit. 


Belafonte looked back on his final conversation with Dr. King, recalling that King’s eternal optimism was wearing thin.  


He remembers King prophesizing that the civil rights movement was fighting to “integrate into a burning house.” 


When Belafonte asked what they were supposed to do about it and what their mission should be, King said, “We’re just going to have to become firemen.”  


With 40 years of experience putting out racial fires, Belafonte has also grown weary. 


“There’s an indifference in this country that most blinds us. We’re so caught up in our hedonistic pursuits, we so need to have another car, to have another television set. We have abandoned our feelings, our need to have a greater purpose,” said

Belafonte about the attitude in today’s culture. 


The six individuals who won awards this year personify the effort that Belafonte asks for from young people. 


Belafonte spoke out about poverty, saying that it is this mission that continues today.


“Never go to bed at the end of a day knowing that you didn’t do something to try to make a difference in what’s happening to poor people,” Belafonte remembers his mother telling him. 


He passed that message along to the capacity crowd, while also urging them to speak out about juvenile incarceration. 


OU alumni David Baker Lewis introduced Belafonte, saying “Harry Belafonte personifies what it means to keep the dream alive.”


His speech urged young people to take action though, saying “There is a lot of work left to be done.”


This year’s award-winners were Yakela Roberson, Jinae Stoudamire, Latonia Garrett, Avery Neale, Denise R. Jones, and Ronée Harvey.


 As President Gary Russi congratulated the winners, handing them certificates of recognition for the work they had done, it was evident that the job that started with Dr. King, and with others, like Harry Belafonte, still continues today.Â