LIMA — One of the most impactful ways to help fulfill the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s dream of equality is through education, OSU-Lima Dean Charlene Gilbert said Monday.
“Education is one way that African-Americans in the past have been able to achieve a great deal in society, and it continues to be the door to opportunity,” Gilbert said as the keynote speaker at the 21st annual Martin Luther King Jr. Breakfast at the Veterans Memorial Civic Center. “It makes a huge difference in economic livelihood and long-term outcomes, and it really gives you more options. Having a college degree will give you more options in life and open more doors.”
The breakfast is hosted every year by the Sigma Mu Omega chapter of the Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority, drawing hundreds of people from various age groups, ethnic and socioeconomic backgrounds together. For chapter president Andrea King, having a diverse group gather every year to honor King’s legacy is very gratifying.
“He did so much for all people,” she said. “With the values that he set for us, we look at the importance of being involved and making our country a place where there are opportunities for everyone. This is one way we can do it.”
Lima Mayor David Berger issued a proclamation during the event, calling on people from all backgrounds to examine themselves and search for ways to foster unity.
“It is an opportunity for us to pause from our daily routines and reflect on fundamental understandings of what it is to be an American and a person who recognizes the value of each human being,” he said. “It’s important for us to come out to these events and participate in them”
During her keynote address, Gilbert hearkened back to her own background, the granddaughter of a farmer in rural Georgia who, having a third-grade education, encouraged his children to finish high school and move on to other educational opportunities. Gilbert’s mother went on to become a dietitian as well as an officer in the U.S. Air Force, and Gilbert herself became an award-winning documentary filmmaker and educator.
“My parents told me, ‘Education is the one thing that no one can take away from you,’” she said in her address.
Highlighting the value of higher learning is directly in line with honoring King’s life and legacy, according to Gilbert.
“Education and character are absolutely essential to the well-being of people,” she said. “So to get an education and be a good person and have strong moral character are some of the things that he often talked about, and one of the major goals of the civil rights movement was to have educational opportunities opened up to everybody. We have a long way to go, but we’ve certainly come a long way.”
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