EVENTS SET TO HONOR MARTIN LUTHER KING

The last time Dr. Charles I. Rankin visited Cape Girardeau, he addressed the school board about inequalities in the public schools system. This year he will address the public about rededicating lives to the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s dream.

Rankin will be guest speaker at the 12th annual Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. memorial breakfast buffet, the first scheduled event for the King holiday celebration. The breakfast is scheduled for Jan. 20, at 8 a.m. at the Show Me Center. The theme is "Days of Remembrance, Reflections and Rededication to King's Dream."

The celebration kickoff will be the signing of the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Proclamation by Mayor Al Spradling III Jan. 15, on the campus of Southeast Missouri State University.

Rankin is a professor of foundations and adult education at Kansas State University in Manhattan. He has an extensive background in equal educational opportunity and the effects of desegregation, and has been published numerous times both nationally and internationally. He has served as an expert witness on 11 federal desegregation court decisions.

"He is going to be an excellent speaker, and we're hoping everybody who can will come out to hear him," said Debra Mitchell-Braxton, co-chairperson of the Martin Luther King Jr. planning committee.

During his visit to Cape Girardeau in 1993, Rankin told the school board that May Greene Elementary was not in compliance with the 14th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution because it had a minority enrollment of about 64 percent.

"Basically, you have taken a group of citizens and gerrymandered them into a situation that makes them racially identifiable," he told the board. He gave the board several recommendations for how it could bring the school into compliance.

While the breakfast is the first official event locally, a group of Cape Girardeau students attended the statewide birthday kickoff that was held recently at Harris-Stowe State College. Twelve students sponsored by the Marva Collins Education Club from Southeast Missouri State University attended the event, which featured Myrlie Evers-Williams, chairperson of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People national board of directors.

Williams is the widow of slain Civil Rights leader Medgar Evers, whose biography -- which was written by his wife -- was the basis for the movie "Ghosts of Mississippi" now showing locally.

"This is the fourth year Southeast Missouri representatives have been included in the statewide celebration," said Dr. Bernice Coar-Cobb, the club's sponsor. She and her husband, Michael Sterling, serve as ex-officio members of the planning committee that organizes the statewide celebration.

Another local event for the King celebration is the annual elementary school art contest, scheduled to run from Jan. 20 through Jan. 30. Drawings from Cape Girardeau elementary students will be on display in the University Center program lounge.

"I Remember Harlem II," a play by the St. Louis Black Repertory Theater, will be presented as a Common Hour event Jan. 29. The play celebrates the Harlem Renaissance, and the words and music express the social changes faced by African Americans using stories from artistic giants of the era.

Also scheduled during the celebration is Dr. Bertice Berry, who will speak at Academic Auditorium Feb. 1. Berry is a talk-show host, entertainer, author, singer, performer, comedienne and advocate for education against racism and sexism. She plans to present a serious message using a comic edge.

Dr. Dale Nitzschke, president of the university, wrote about the celebration and its meaning. King's basic message, he wrote, was about the "inclusion of a repressed minority population in the mainstream of life in America." He said the holiday should be used to celebrate a historic victory over state-sponsored racial discrimination.

"I challenge every member of the university community to honor Dr. King's memory by participating in the celebration of his life, and by finding ways they can assist personally in the work of building a truly inclusive Southeast Missouri State University," he wrote.

For additional information about any of events call the Campus Assistance Center at 651-2273.

CALENDER OF EVENTS

MARTIN LUTHER KING JR. CELEBRATION

Monday, Jan. 20

8 a.m., Show Me Center, 12th annual Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial Breakfast Buffet

7 p.m.

St. James A.M.E. Church, 516 North St., seventh annual Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. community celebration, free.

Monday-Thursday, Jan. 20-30

8 a.m. - 10 p.m. daily, Martin Luther King annual art contest, university program lounge

Wednesday, Jan. 29

12:30 p.m., Academic Auditorium, Academic Hall, "I Remember Harlem II", Black Repertory Theater, Common Hour Event.

Saturday, Feb. 1

Speaker, Dr. Bertice Berry, 7 p.m., Academic Aucitorium.