Oteng, a lawyer and educator at The Ohio State University, as well as founder of Youthful Life Works LLC in Columbus, is a blogger, photographer and podcaster.
Oteng started the celebration with a quote by King: “Shallow understanding from people of good will is more frustrating than absolute misunderstanding from people of ill will.”
He then asked the audience to talk about what words and images they associate with King, with some people in the room saying brave, movement, leader, passionate, love and controversy.
But Oteng said King was also radical, troublemaking, criminalized, flawed and assassinated.
“I’m asking you to break the rank,” Oteng said. “Our world would be different if oppression was not the norm, such as representation, distribution of resources, decision-making power ... Diversity is the norm and the only ‘forced’ diversity is when there isn’t any.”
King’s legacy has been diminished, Oteng said, he was a radical for love and justice, and called on community members to be the same.
“Building belonging requires us to wake up and actively go against the norm,” he said. “Belonging means people get to be celebrated as they are and make the rules and culture together, sharing the power instead of hoarding the power.”
Oteng then asked the audience what it means to be a part of the community, saying community is care, requires disruption (say something, do something), giving grace and owning unpreparedness (sometimes people truly don’t know what to say, but once you know better then do better), and requires accountability (hold yourself accountable).
“Why are we so committed to the way things are?” he asked. “They are not working ... or are we benefiting from how things are, and are OK with others being stifled?”
Along with honoring King, Clark State honored recipients of two awards: The City of Springfield was awarded the Diversity Champion Award and Dawayne Kirkman, Clark State’s vice president of student affairs, was awarded the Diversity and Inclusion Award.
The Diversity Champion Award recognizes a business in the community that believes in and supports diversity and inclusion in their workplace, and one who brings awareness and ensures inclusion is an everyday reality.
The Diversity and Inclusion Award recognizes leadership in diversity by honoring the individual or organization who have implemented innovative strategies to promote the development of skills to meet the needs of a multicultural society.
The annual Peacemaker Awards were also presented to 11 local high school students recognized for their ability to resolve conflict in a positive way and assist in bridging cultural and social differences within their schools.
The awards were presented to Elias Joyce of Tecumseh, Abaigael Fallis of Springfield-Clark CTC, Hailee Acquah of Global Impact STEM Academy, Leah Fraker of Northwestern, Joslin Mefford of Northeastern, Jordan Moore of Emmanuel Christian Academy, William Houghton of Greenon, Christopher White of Clark-Shawnee, Hannah Staats-Delong of Kenton Ridge, Jimmy Gamblin of Springfield, and Ella McCombs of Southeastern.
During the luncheon, Choices (Children Have Options in Caring Environments) Ohio also collected donations in the lobby to support young adults aging out of foster care.
The last two MLK luncheon celebrations in 2022 and 2021 were held virtually. The keynote speaker in 2022 was Coach Tray Huntsman, founder of Huntsman Elite, and in 2021 it was Eric Ellis, president and CEO of Integrity Development Corp.
The 33rd annual MLK celebration was hosted by Clark State College and the City of Springfield. It’s also supported by CareSource, Mercy Health, Park National Bank and The Springfield Foundation.
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