FSCC plans all-day celebration of Martin Luther King Jr. day

FORT SCOTT, Kan. -- Fort Scott Community College will host an all-day celebration of noted civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. on Monday, Jan. 17.

Organized by FSCC faculty and staff, as well as community members from Fort Scott and other parts of Bourbon County, the event features a series of events to educate and "shine a light" on King's contributions to society, a news release said.

All events will take place in the Danny and Willa Ellis Family Fine Arts Center on the FSCC campus, 2108 S. Horton, and are free of charge and open to the public. A 1964 Nobel Peace Prize winner, King was assassinated in Memphis, Tenn., in April 1968.

FSCC Dean of Instruction Donna Estill, one of the event coordinators, said she and FSCC Board of Trustees member Robert Nelson had talked in the past about organizing an all-day event to remember and honor King, but the celebration didn't come together until this year. And organizers were able to do it with limited funds.

"We had talked about it, but it didn't get organized for awhile," she said. "I think we've pulled together a nice group of community members and faculty members ... It's a really nice set of remembrances without a lot of money."

While only some FSCC students will be on campus for the event -- students don't return from winter break until Jan. 18 -- Estill said she encourages all students, as well as all community members, to take part in the celebration to recognize King and his place in U.S. history.

"A lot of our students don't have a connection to the time period ... We're encouraging strongly that they be a part of this," she said.

Estill added, "I hope everyone has a chance to see something. It's a celebration, a joyful day I hope ... There were some sad elements (in King's story), but I think there's a lot of hope in what we'll see."

The first event is the showing of a documentary titled "In Remembrance of Martin" at 10 a.m. The film features interviews with some of the most important civil rights figures in history, such as the Rev. Jesse Jackson, Bill Cosby, and Archbishop Desmond Tutu, discussing King, their friend and colleague. It also includes news footage of King at various stages of the civil rights movement.

At 12:30 p.m., FSCC will award prizes in the first-ever MLK Poetry Competition. FSCC students submitted poems inspired by King's "I Have Been to the Mountaintop" speech. A panel of judges has chosen the top three poems out of a group of entries. The award-winning poets will read their entries prior to the showing of the film, "King," a documentary illustrating King's life that features interviews with people inspired by him. It also includes a rare interview with his son, Martin Luther King III.

"The Long Walk Home," a feature film starring Sissy Spacek and Whoopi Goldberg as a southern woman and her housekeeper, is set against the backdrop of the 1955 bus boycott in Montgomery, Ala. The showing of the movie will take place from 3 to 5 p.m.

Movie critic Robert Lane described the movie as a "well-done treatment of an important period of American history ... an effective and accurate period drama ... also an opportunity to see fine, understated performances by two very popular actresses in an earnest and socially conscious setting."

The day will culminate with a Readers' Theatre performance of "I Rise" at 7 p.m., performed by FSCC students and directed by Nathan Magee, speech instructor and forensics coach at FSCC. The script, presented by the Readers' Theatre, describes many major events and people of the civil rights movement in a dramatic and exciting way, the news release said.

The evening program also includes a Praise Dance by local residents LaTonya Morton and Clara Barner. A reception will follow the evening program.