We can 'do better': Students gather for MLK Youth Summit

Jan. 19—During Monday's annual Martin Luther King Jr. Day Youth Summit, Dee Reed relayed a personal story about stereotypes.

A family member who worked in emergency services had experienced racism in a community, and that caused her to believe everyone who lived in that community was racist.

When she learned a co-worker she really liked resided in that community, she had to shift her thinking. Reed realized she was wrong to stereotype a group of people based on the actions of a few. The co-worker became one of her closest friends.

"When we exclude people, we think we are doing it to hurt someone else. A lot of times we are hurting ourselves," said Reed, one of the speakers during the summit sponsored by the city of Terre Haute Human Relations Commission. The event was the Martin Luther King Jr. Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Youth Summit.

Reed, who serves on the human relations commission, told the Vigo County middle and high school students that when they exclude others, they potentially are missing out on good relationships, close friends or even important contributions to a school project.

The best for each other

Later in her presentation, she asked the group what King might think about Breonna Taylor, George Floyd or Ahmaud Arbery. "I think he might say our humanity demands that we do better," she said.

King made an impact by "showing up and speaking out. I'm going to ask that we do the same, if we see injustices today, if we see somebody that is struggling, if we see someone not being included," Reed said.

"We owe it to each other as people that if we know something is wrong, we speak up. We should want the best for each other."

She pointed to ways the students can live out King's legacy of social justice: by choosing to be a champion of diversity, inclusion, equality and peace; by being dissatisfied with anything less than justice for all; by calling out inequality and racism through respectful conversation; and recognizing and managing our own biases.

About 100 middle and high school students were expected to participate in the day-long summit at the Booker T. Washington Community Center. They participated in a wide range of activities hosted by local educators and community leaders.

Freddie Silveria of Learning for Living served as keynote speaker and hosted workshops titled, "Breaking down the Walls" and "We Are Better Together." The workshops included a blend of large group, small group and one-on-one experiences and provided an opportunity for students to create empathy, build social awareness and create meaningful relationships with peers outside their traditional friend group.

South Vigo senior Mekhi Moore was among those who attended the summit.

He said it's nice to join other young people "and talk about an important event and important holiday that means so much to us, not only in our community, but our country as well."

As far as the country's progress in achieving King's dream, Moore said, "It still feels like we have a long way to go in regards to social equity and treatment in how different races interact with each other. But I feel his words and his teachings have helped us and we've come a long way from where we were at. It's going to be a journey to keep going to where we need to be," Moore said.

As far as some of the injustices that have occurred in recent years across the country, "It saddens me that we're still in such a state of turmoil in regards to how we treat and talk and interact with each other," Moore said. "But I think moving forward, we're in a good position. We're a lot more socially aware now than we have been and it's just a matter of us proactively doing things to make our country a better place."

Jordan Lough, director of the Terre Haute Human Relations Commission, said not all participants were able to stay for the entire summit. But even if they attended for an hour, "I'm happy. Because this is a special day. We are supposed to pay tribute. We are supposed to honor" King and his legacy.

"It is a day we are supposed to reflect, but we are also supposed to educate," Lough said. "This program is about uniting everybody so that we can bring forth the change that we need in this community to live out the dream that MLK had."

Silveria said students would be "sharing stories, stories about life." He referred to a motto that "it's hard to hate someone whose story you know."

By connecting and sharing stories, students will realize "we have more in common than we think," he said.

Sue Loughlin can be reached at 812-231-4235 or at sue.loughlin@tribstar.com Follow Sue on Twitter @TribStarSue.