VCU events honor MLK, inspire a beloved community

Emily McCauley, Spectrum Editor 

“It’s important to take the opportunity to celebrate the legacy and life of Martin Luther King Jr.,” said Stephen Davenport, assistant vice president for social and economic development for the Division of Community Engagement at VCU.

The Division of Community Engagement at VCU presents the Thriving Communities: The Legacy of MLK’s Beloved Community to celebrate Dr. King’s legacy and his goal to create a beloved community with qualitative and quantitative change. The celebration will be at the Institute for Contemporary Art on Jan. 18 at 5 p.m., according to Davenport.

The new year brings reflection and Martin Luther King Jr. Day comes at an appropriate time to set the anchor for the work we want to accomplish moving forward with the rest of 2024, according to Davenport. 

This year VCU selected a quote from Dr. King that reflects his ideology of thriving communities to use as a guide for the year, according to Davenport. Dr. King’s quote reads, “Our goal is to create a beloved community and this will require a qualitative change in our souls as well as a quantitative change in our lives.”

Davenport encourages VCU students to find whatever they are passionate about and understand how they can impact those systems in disruptive and impactful ways that don’t cause physical harm, he said. 

“When you look at most political movements, they start on college campuses, so it’s really important that we continue that vitality, and I’m always encouraged when I see students engaged,” Davenport said. 

The VCU Division of Community Engagement partnered with VCU Health, VCU students and faculty and the Richmond community to bring people together to celebrate and envision the work of Dr. King, according to Verenda Cobbs, senior manager for civic innovation and partnerships at VCU. 

“We really will be bringing the community together to really envision the work of MLK and his concept of beloved community,” Cobbs said. 

The keynote celebration features speeches from author, pastor and coach Vernon Gordon as well as a Fireside Chat with community leaders Micah “Bam Bamm” White, Dr. Shantell Chambliss, Damon Jiggetts and Enjoli Moon, according to Cobbs. 

“We’ll bring those folks together for a conversation, and we will also have some entertainment, some live painting and a reception, and it will be an opportunity for us to hear, but also be encouraged and inspired by the speakers that’ll be sharing with us,” Cobbs said. 

The event’s goal is to bring the concept of love, justice and equality to VCU faculty, staff, students, community members and leaders together in one space for an evening of inspiration with a call to action, according to Cobbs.   

“When you think of the life work of Martin Luther King Jr. he really was led and guided by non-violence — that was the premise for his focus and motivation,” Cobbs said. “He talked a lot about love and not continuing to move in a posture of hate.”

VCU Health System will present a Martin Luther King Jr. celebration and community walk on Jan. 20 from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. aiming to provide an opportunity and create a space for diversity, equity and inclusion, according to Dr. Marcelle Davis, the vice president of diversity, equity and inclusion at VCU Health.

The walk will start with Dr. Elliott giving opening remarks, and attendees plan to sing and walk together as a beloved community while learning of Dr. King’s legacy and the work he has done for the civil rights movement, according to Davis. 

“Together we will join our voices as we walk to learn our history together – that history is a part of our community — and it’s a part of us as a Richmond community and a part of our people — our leaders, our health system, et cetera,” Davis said. 

When we think about diversity, we think about difference, and because difference can make us uncomfortable, nonviolence is the way to get us talking and listening to each other, according to Davis.

“Dr. King’s approach is the most effective way to bring our community together to talk about the things that are plaguing us and to craft a path forward,” Davis said. 

Dr. King was a member of the Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity and the Theta Rho chapter aims to make sure he is commemorated, according to Rayvean Graves, president of Theta Rho chapter of Alpha Phi Alpha at VCU. 

For the past seven years, Theta Rho has hosted a candlelit, silent march around campus to show solidarity and commemorate Dr. King, according to Graves.

The attendees prayed, hosted a silent vigil and had speaker Rev. William Marcus Smalls share about how life has changed since the Civil Rights Movement, according to Graves. 

The walk began at 6 p.m. at the Art Depot at 814 W. Broad St. on Jan. 15 and marched around the VCU Barnes and Noble, ending near the James Branch Cabell Library, where there were glowing lanterns all around the circle, according to Graves. 

“I’m honored to be in a position where as a president I can plan a march for him,” Graves said. “A lot of things wouldn’t be the same if Martin Luther King wasn’t there.”