Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Speaker A: Foreign.
[00:00:08] Speaker B: Welcome everybody to this podcast. My name is Dave Perozek. I'm managing editor of the Northwest Arkansas Devoncry Gazette. And today we're focused on Martin Luther King Jr. His life and legacy and what events we in Northwest Arkansas can look forward to in the days to come surrounding Martin Luther King Jr. Day this coming Monday. I have two special guests with me today. They are Lindsay Leverett Higgins, president of the Northwest Arkansas Martin Luther King Jr. Council, and Chris Seawood, the council's treasurer. Welcome to both of you. And just want to note too that we're recording this on January 16, one day after King's actual birth date, which was the 96th anniversary of his birth. Of course, the nation officially honors him every third Monday of January.
I wanted to start with kind of a basic question, actually two part question for both of you. Why is it important to remember King in general? And along with that, is there anything about him that you think people miss? Something that people should know about him, but most people don't?
[00:01:33] Speaker C: I think it's important that we know about Dr. King, that he was really an ambassador for civil rights, for equity and justice for all people. I think oftentimes there's this rhetoric that because Dr. King identified as black, that the focus of the movement was really about the black and African American community. But as we really peel back the layers and look at the work that Dr. King did, he was really about equity and justice and rights and civil rights for all people. He wanted to ensure that the society that we live in was reflective of this idea of this beloved community where all people could come together and experience the same types of rights and freedoms.
[00:02:26] Speaker A: Yeah, I agree with Lindsey's sentiments. And along those lines also is important to note that, you know, he longed to hold America to, as he alluded to. And his mountain top speech, one of his, his last speech, his last speech before he was assassinated, it's just for America to be true to what it said on paper, meaning Constitution and Declaration of Independence, meaning that this country is built on the ideas of, of equality and justice and, and liberty for all men. So to that end it is. It is incumbent upon us to ensure that systems that are in place, that help to prevent that are dismantled wherever they may exist.
But it is for the upliftment and the improvement and the betterment of all humanity, not just one specific group.
I think you had a two part question, Dave. I forgot the second part.
[00:03:36] Speaker B: Yeah, well, the second part was what do you think? Or something that people miss about Martin Luther King, Something that they should Know, but most people don't.
[00:03:53] Speaker C: I think for me, one of the things that people miss about Dr. King, and we really tried to convey this in the messaging from the events that we did last year, is that they missed the human element in the human side of Dr. King. A lot of times you see him in pictures. A lot of the images that you see of Dr. King during the civil rights movement are in black and white. And so you miss that human element, the side of him that enjoyed spending time with his family and his kids, the times that he was in various hotels across the country with his staff and with people that were very close to him during the movement, and they would laugh and joke. You think about even in the last days and the time that he spent in the Lorraine Motel as a part of the conversations with people that were with him, Jesse Jackson and Ralph Abernathy, and they talk about how they had a pillow fight in the room in the Lorraine Motel and how there was really this light, fun, human side to Dr. King. And I think a lot of people miss that in seeing the seriousness of what he was doing and what he was doing to really bring about change, and especially at a very young age.
[00:05:09] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah.
Anything you want to add to that, Chris?
[00:05:19] Speaker A: Yeah, I mean, I agree wholeheartedly. Was busy. I. It is very much uplifting his. His humanity.
I think we, you know, particularly on this side of.
Of history, we. We, I think, take that for granted that he was a living, breathing human being. Again, he was only, I believe, 39 years old when he died, so he. He had a family and the monumental sacrifices that he took to do the work that he undertook.
And so it. It kind of helps us to not romanticize him. I. I think, to a degree, nor. Nor the movement, and places him squarely as a, you know, a monumental historic figure, but also very much human.
And it keeps it also in the perspective that, you know, because he was human, that the work that he did was. Was. And still it is possible for us all.
[00:06:28] Speaker B: Let's talk about what you've got coming up this weekend. Becca Martin Brown wrote a story for us that published on the 13th, for which she talked to both of you and listed the events the Council has planned.
Would you like to talk about those events here for us?
[00:06:47] Speaker C: So on Friday, tomorrow night, we are very excited to present or to bring back for the second time our beloved Community Festival. And this is really just an amazing opportunity for us to celebrate Dr. King's vision and this dream of this beloved community here in Northwest Arkansas to create this space where we bring together a recognition and a celebration of the various cultures that we have right here in our backyard. And so this event will take place in conjunction with our partners at Crystal Bridges, in part by a sponsorship with Walmart at Crystal Bridges Museum. Tomorrow night from 6 to 10. This is a completely free to the community festival where we will have a fantastic offering variety of cultural foods and cultural entertainment. We will have some art therapy, healing on the canvas. We will have a spades tournament. It will just be a good time. We have a phenomenal kid zone that is planned. And so this is for anyone in the Northwest Arkansas community. It's family oriented and an opportunity for us to just again celebrate Dr. King's vision of this beloved community and to bring everyone out on Friday night and then on Saturday.
We will start Saturday with our community service project and that will be sponsored in conjunction with Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity Incorporated. And that will take place on Saturday morning in Fayetteville. And then we will move to our 29th annual recommitment celebration. On Saturday evening we have a community reception. Again, another opportunity for us to just engage the community and to really celebrate our salute to greatness award recipients and our scholarship recipients during that reception. The reception will take place at 4pm and the recommitment celebration itself, the program will begin at 5:30. And all of this will take place at the Fayetteville Public Library in the event center space. And that is a ticketed event and tickets are available for purchase and the information is on our website.
On Sunday we will participate in a visual that is co sponsored by Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity Incorporated and that will take place on Sunday afternoon at St. James Baptist Church. And then we round out the weekend with our Monday events. On Monday we will have the Dream Keepers Youth Breakfast which takes place at 8am at Theater Squared in the Walker Breakfast rehearsal room space, followed by a youth activity in conjunction with the University of Arkansas athletes at the Hyper on campus. And then we will move to our Freedom March, our signature freedom March. One of the things that will be different about the Freedom March this year is that due to the cold temperatures that we're expecting on Monday morning, we have made the decision to pivot that march indoors. And so we will still gather, but we will now be at Theater Squared. And we will be in the large theater space in Theater Squared. And so we're just excited to have the ability to still gather and to still celebrate, but in a space that is nice and warm and inviting. So we appreciate our partnership and our collaboration with Yater Squared and then we end the Monday at the University of Arkansas Union Ballroom. And that will be for the noonday visual in conjunction with asg.
[00:10:45] Speaker B: Okay, very nice. Yeah, it's looking like a high of 25 on Monday, so good decision.
[00:10:53] Speaker A: Moving doors.
[00:10:54] Speaker C: And I think the low was 8. And so that's definitely really cold.
[00:10:59] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:11:03] Speaker B: Too bad it couldn't be today, which is. It's about 60 degrees.
[00:11:08] Speaker C: I know. It's beautiful today.
[00:11:09] Speaker A: It's really nice outside today.
[00:11:11] Speaker B: Hey, it's January.
I want to go back to the interview that you had with Becca, and she listed in that story that some of your top concerns, criminal justice reform, was kind of at the top of the list.
There's been a lot of discussion of criminal justice reform in Northwest Arkansas, particularly having to do with our jail capacity. Our jails in Benton, Washington counties are full.
There are those who want more consideration given to alternatives to jail and so forth.
But I want to kind of delve into that topic with you just around reform. What can you specify your concerns on the matter and what do you have in mind for what you'd like to see done? Whether that's the local, state, or national level type stuff.
[00:12:25] Speaker A: I think when you speak of reforms, criminal justice reform, it is looking at ways for redemptive ways rather than just purely carceral means to rehabilitate, rehabilitate people across the country. I think FBI data shows that, you know, we're experiencing some of the lowest crime rates that we've ever seen in the last at least 20 years or so. And so I think with a continued downward trend, I know that may be not reflective everywhere, places like Little Rock are experiencing crime at different rates than even what we experience here in northwest Arkansas. But still, rather than just a one size fits all solution of mass incarceration, which, you know, we know historically has been extremely detrimental to the African American community, even with disparities in sentencing rates that could be looked at even at the same level of amount. When we're talking about drug arrest, there are myriad ways to address activity that would be called, quote, unquote, criminal rather than just blanket approach of mass incarceration and or even opening up new jails. So at least taking creative approaches in to how we approach American citizens, human beings again, and how we would work with them to prevent recidivism as well as they matriculate through the carceral system.
[00:14:36] Speaker B: When is it that you want to add to that?
[00:14:38] Speaker C: Or so I think that criminal justice reform, particularly, as we're thinking about kind of the context of the Previous interview and how it relates to people of color has to focus on really addressing the systematic inequalities and creating a more equitable and fair system.
I think that we have to start with eliminating the racial bias in policing. And so as we think about things that do that, looking at developing these comprehensive anti bias based trainings, so thinking about law enforcement and how we're training the law enforcement, how we're training law enforcement, thinking about how we mandate the use of body cameras and then how we also look at review boards for accountability. So as we have incidences that occur, what is the review process and how are we holding people accountable for decisions that are made and actions that happen, especially as relates to people of color. I think another place that we really consider too is around the, around sentencing reform. And so understanding how sentencing reform is essential to, you know, basically addressing disparities like Chris mentioned, as it relates to drug offenses or considering ending mandatory minimum sentences. And so I think that there are some things that we can do in that space, but it's really to the point that Chris made, like how we creatively are looking at that so that we can reduce the impact for communities of color.
[00:16:26] Speaker B: What are any other priorities that you want to talk about that you think that King himself would have been concerned about were he alive today, that we need to work on as a society?
[00:16:43] Speaker A: I think Dr. King always summarized it well. He summarized in his speeches the three evils of the world, which is poverty, racism and militarism. I think when you, if you look at it even in those broad based categories, if he were still alive, I think he would still be working along those lines to reduce and even eliminate poverty, I think worldwide and more specifically here in the United States for people of color, but also people of working class along all racial, racial and socioeconomic stratas.
So I think that's number one. Poverty, then racism, obviously it still was and still is an ongoing battle that we have to face head on without fear and, or equivocation and then militarism, which makes the other two, particularly poverty, in my opinion, that much more difficult to fight.
Ballooning budgets from federal government to, to empower departments of defense across the world. I'm not at all saying that we shouldn't have security as a nation. That absolutely is the case. But I, I think even as he worked towards and talked about as he was alive and even before he was assassinated, working again creatively to help, you know, people worldwide and particularly our governments here to realize that, hey, you can have security, but yet also still be able to take care of our people at home by providing a sure economic base to help eliminate poverty.
[00:19:01] Speaker B: All right. Well, is there anything else either of you would like to add related to anything we've discussed here?
[00:19:13] Speaker A: Not for me. I really enjoyed the opportunity. Nancy, I don't know about you.
[00:19:17] Speaker C: No, I think this has been great. I've enjoyed the opportunity to have a platform to talk about what the council has going on in celebration of Dr. King this weekend and to have the opportunity to talk about some of the forward reaching things that are top of mind for us as members of this organization and as people of color that live and exist and thrive in the world every day.
[00:19:51] Speaker B: Well, it's been a pleasure talking to you both. Lindsay, Chris, thank you so much for your time.
[00:19:56] Speaker A: Thank you for having us.
[00:19:58] Speaker C: Thank you. Have a good afternoon.
[00:20:00] Speaker B: You're as well.
Keep an eye on the Northwest Arkansas Democrat Gazette for coverage of MLK Day related activities, including a special report this weekend on some of the black people who helped and are continuing to help shape Fayetteville. Again, I'm Dave Perozek, your podcast host. Thank you for listening and have a great day.
