Each year, Peninsula College honors Dr. Martin Luther King in a lecture, performance or poetry reading centered on his legacy, as part of the Studium Generale series. On Jan. 12, in addition to a mid-day presentation, the college’s Magic of Cinema will screen the film “100 Years: One Woman’s Fight for Justice” at 7 p.m.
The Studium Generale presentation, which will begin at 12:35 p.m. in the college’s Little Theater, will focus on King’s legacy, particularly the emphasis on non-violent direct action in the recent protests on the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation.
Last August, Lower Elwha Klallam chairman Frances Charles traveled to Standing Rock to present the Sioux with a flag, which represents the tribe’s commitment to support the Sioux and the protests. Guest speakers include Mark “Hammer Time” Charles, Jerry Foster and Laz Tinoco, of the Lower Elwha Klallam tribe; Sequim residents Bill and William Jevne, and PC faculty member Kate Reavey, whose doctoral degree includes a specialization in MLK Studies.
Reavey says the goal of the panel presentation and discussion is to “help recognize the relevance of Dr. King’s emphasis on non-violent direct action” and the ways in which the protesters in South Dakota have carried out the necessary steps to remain non-violent in the face of provocations made against them.
King’s “Letter from a Birmingham Jail” and his speech that was later titled “Staying Awake During a Great Revolution” will be central references.
Reavey will outline some historical parallels and then the five individuals who recently traveled to Standing Rock will present brief accounts of their decisions to protest, their experiences there and their perspectives on the past as well as the future of non-violent action.
Bill Jevne, a veteran of the U.S. Marine Corps, chose to make the long journey in order to participate in the direct action of veterans circling the Native American protesters in an act of protection. He and his son could only stay briefly, but the commitment to resistance and the reasons the two had for traveling to support the Sioux and the other protesters are significant to King’s legacy, and to his emphasis on the three evils of society, which will be covered in Reavey’s introduction.
Prayer and peaceful resistance are at the center of the protests in Standing Rock and Mark Charles is no stranger to nonviolent protests. He became involved in “Idle No More” — a grassroots movement for indigenous sovereignty, indigenous rights and respect for treaties — and made the long drive, through snow and freezing conditions with Foster and Tinoco, to stand with the Sioux at Standing Rock.
This presentation is free and open to the public. For more information, contact Kate Reavey, kreavey@pencol.edu.
Later that evening sees the sceening of “100 Years,” the true story of Elouise Cobell, who filed the largest class action lawsuit ever filed against the United States government, and won a $3.4 billion settlement for 300,000 Native Americans whose mineral-rich lands were mismanaged by the Department of the Interior.
The film describes Cobell as an iconic figure in history “who simply refuse(d) to get to the back of the bus.”
The screening will be held in Peninsula College’s Maier Hall. Tickets are $5 at the door for general admission and free for students.
For more information, email Sean Gomez at sgomez@pencol.edu or call 417-6464.
