On this day that we take as holiday to observe Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. I'd like to offer some words that speak to what Dr. King's memory means to me. Although Dr. King existed during the civil rights era of the 1960s, I feel his messages can be accepted across cultures and belief systems. I believe this because as the youngest of three children born to immigrant parents it was very difficult growing up at times in conditions of extreme poverty.
As a child I remember living in the Rampart district of Los Angeles and feeling a sense of constant fear. As a child born in Los Angeles, CA in the 80s and raised in San Bernardino through the 90s I've witnessed much change and turmoil in my young life. Yet, one of my earliest school memories was celebrating Black History Month. Mainly because my birthday is in February and the beginning of the month meant my birthday was coming, but later on I grew to gain a deeper significance to the hstory. I used to love listening about figures such as Lucy Terry, Phillis Wheatley, George Washington Carver, Langston Hughes, Dr, King, Malcolm X, etc. I enjoyed listening to them overcoming struggle and sharing their stories to motivate others of the same. I do also remember there was always a phrase used to describe these figures as being, "important to building a better America."
It is this latter phrase that made me believe that I, as the child of immigrant parents, had a duty to become the best American possible in order for my parents' struggles to have been legitimized. As such I looked to figures such as Cesar Chavez and Dr. King because they appealed to me in a way I felt coincided with how I was raised and how I wanted to mold myself as an adult. I listened to their speeches and watched videos of them in class. I was convinced of becoming a public figure to help our community because of people like Dr. King. Although it was very sad to hear how his life ended shortly I never forgot the messages in his "I Have a Dream" speech.
It took me a couple years after high school to remember how important Dr. King had actually been to my earlier development of agency and the pursuit of knowledge. It was after I enrolled in junior college and transferred to UCSB that I remembered what it felt like to be inspired by such great figures. It was in Chicana/o Studies 1A, with Dr. Ralph Armbruster-Sandvoval, that I was confronted with that feeling again, except this time it was to a different Dr. King speech; "The Drum Major Instinct". The speech spoke to me of personal reflexivity and allowed me to start seeing that we are to try to better ourselves and help others, not to help ourselves and try to fix others.
At the time I heard the speech there were rallys on campus regarding evictions of local tenants. I was new to UCSB and had never been at a rally, nor was I looking to being possibly arrested, as was the preconceived notions I had prior to arriving to UCSB. I witnessed how students, staff and faculty bound together and collectively dug into their thinning pockets to assist our community members in need. I began to see that people are capable of coming together to help those with greater needs. The "Drum Major Instinct" as Dr. King calls it, began to steadily beat inside of me. I began to think about a future full of serving a public in need of resources and information. I applied to pursue a Ph. D. because I wanted to be in a better position to do so. Four years into graduate school and the beating has only gained rhythm and gotten stronger inside of me since then.
I was fortunate enough to have a system of support set up through our community of underrepresented students, student affairs support staff and faculty. As I hope to assume my role in the "real world" I will strive my hardest, regardless of personal gain and struggle, my drum major and my agency, will go on. I have included "The Drum Major Instinct" speech below in case anyone is interested and has the time to listen to it.
Here's a link to the full text and audio recording: