Chancellor’s Message on the MLK weekend – Celebrating the 'Beloved Community'

January 22, 2018 | San Diego Community College District Chancellor Constance M. Carroll

Dear Colleagues and Friends: 

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Weekend 2018, was filled with important events that resonated with the San Diego Community College District’s values and goals for celebrating social justice and cultural diversity. Last weekend, SDCCD Trustees, faculty and staff, administrators, and student leaders joined the institutions of the City of San Diego and community organizations to participate in events highlighting the vision of an extraordinary man, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. One of Dr. King’s most compelling visions was his concept of the “beloved community.” The society he called for was to be characterized by equality of all people, by civility, by love, by world peace, by educational opportunity, by support for health and other needs, and by the willingness to crusade in non-violent ways to reach these goals. 

During the weekend, we heard a number of inspirational speakers at the Jackie Robinson Family YMCA Breakfast on Friday, at the San Diego Educator’s Breakfast on Saturday, and at the All People’s Breakfast on Monday. Let me give a special shout-out to City College’s new President, Dr. Ricky Shabazz, who made two keynote speeches during the weekend, one at the USS Midway and one at the Educator’s Breakfast.  Both were very well received by the community.  The SDCCD also had a booth at the Multicultural Festival.  Our participation demonstrated to hundreds of thousands of people who turned out for these events that our institutions believe in Dr. King’s vision and pursue it through the educational mission of City, Mesa, and Miramar colleges, and Continuing Education.  Being present and involved in these community events is important for us in the San Diego Community College District.  In the words of Dr. King, written in a Letter from a Birmingham Jail in April 1963, “We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny.  Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly.” 

These events in Dr. King’s honor enabled all of us to “witness” and provide testimony to his ideals and to demonstrate our own commitment, individually and collectively, to the humane causes that were espoused by this great civil rights leader, preacher, and educator.  Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., was not just a hero of the African-American Civil Rights Movement; he was and is the hero of the broader movement to provide opportunity, dignity, equal rights, peace, and fulfillment for all people irrespective of their heritage, background, beliefs, or economic condition.

Each year, one of the highlights of the Martin Luther King, Jr., Weekend is the parade, this time taking place on Sunday afternoon.  Special congratulations are in order to Continuing Education for taking first-place honors in the float competition. Also, the District as a whole placed second in the category of educational units.

It is my tradition to share with our District and community friends the wonderful scenes from the MLK Parade. More than 300 people from City College, Mesa College, Miramar College, Continuing Education, the District Office, the Board of Trustees, the Student Trustees, and the College Police Department marched, rode, and shouted during the parade.

Please enjoy some scenes from the parade here.

Until next year ...

 

Dr. Constance M. Carroll
Chancellor

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