Martin Luther King, Jr. Day
January 17, 2005
Northern Michigan University

Dr. Leslie E. Wong
President

There are few moments in one's life when history occurs not only in your lifetime, but in front of you. As a teenager in the 60s, in Berkeley (Calif.), no less, I heard a cry to end racism, to act against racism and to create a world without racism. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. provided that call through his courage, his demand for justice, himself inspired by the simple virtue of love. The call to peace and the end of racism has not left me and it has not failed me in asking more of myself and those around me.

Today, in 2005, we are asked to live his words by confronting new fears and racisms. Let us hope that his call to action is not lost upon us, nor is it lost in our messages when we work with young people. We cannot allow the young to succumb to old hates, nor can we let age and passivity justify our failure to act.

Dr. Leslie E. Wong

President

Northern Michigan University