{"id":60393,"date":"2026-01-20T14:39:43","date_gmt":"2026-01-20T19:39:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/?p=60393"},"modified":"2026-01-21T14:48:34","modified_gmt":"2026-01-21T19:48:34","slug":"mlk-day-2026-environmental-justice-is-a-civil-rights-issue","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2026\/mlk-day-2026-environmental-justice-is-a-civil-rights-issue\/","title":{"rendered":"MLK Day 2026: \u2018Environmental justice is a civil rights issue\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

EMU celebrates Martin Luther King Jr. Day with focus on sustainability<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

EMU hosted its ninth annual Martin Luther King Jr. Celebration on Monday, Jan. 19, featuring a series of events honoring the life and legacy of the late civil rights leader.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The theme of this year\u2019s celebration was \u201cBeyond the Dream: Social Justice and Ecological Consciousness,\u201d and it focused on the message of Dr. King\u2019s 1967 Christmas sermon, in which he preached about all life on Earth being interconnected. \u201cWhatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Students carry signs around the indoor track during Monday morning\u2019s unity march.<\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Monday\u2019s events began at 9:45 a.m. with a unity march inside the University Commons. About two dozen students, faculty, and staff members held signs calling for peace and justice as they completed three laps around the indoor track. Each year, the unity march pays tribute to the many nonviolent marches led by Dr. King and others during the civil rights movement. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Students share Dr. King\u2019s words during Speak Out.<\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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The EMU Gospel Choir sings \u201cHappy Birthday.”<\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Interim President Rev. Dr. Shannon W. Dycus<\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Celeste Thomas, event organizer<\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Harrisonburg Mayor Deanna Reed<\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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The group of marchers proceeded to Lehman Auditorium, where members of the Black Student Alliance (BSA) and other students shared quotes from Dr. King and reflected on his legacy during Speak Out. One quote that resonated deeply was: \u201cInjustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Celeste Thomas<\/strong>, director of Multicultural Student Services at EMU and chair of the committee planning the MLK Jr. celebration, said Dr. King imagined a world with community instead of chaos, love instead of hate, and no one going hungry. He imagined a world where families are not separated, where there are no food deserts and everyone has clean water, and where countries don\u2019t bully one another for resources, she added. \u201cBeloved community is sustainability for all mankind,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Harrisonburg Mayor Deanna Reed<\/strong>, director of alumni engagement and community connections at EMU, spoke about the theme of the day. \u201cGoing beyond the dream<\/em> means understanding justice is not passive,\u201d she said. \u201cIt requires participation, it requires responsibility, and that\u2019s where you come in, EMU students. You\u2019re not on the sidelines of this work. You are already shaping the future of communities like Harrisonburg through the choices you make, the careers you pursue, the voices you raise, and the values you carry forward. Don\u2019t just remember him, carry his dream forward.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Interim President Rev. Dr. Shannon W. Dycus <\/strong>spoke about Claudette Colvin, a 15-year-old who was arrested in 1955 for refusing to give up her seat on a segregated bus in Montgomery, Alabama, nine months before Rosa Parks did the same. Dycus, who noted that Colvin passed away on Jan. 13, 2026, said the young activist had inspired her for many years. \u201cBoth King and Colvin teach us what justice and power look like in necessary ways,\u201d Dycus said. \u201cWe gather not out of tradition, not because the calendar tells us to, but because we are committed to taking seriously the work of building equitable, compassionate, and just communities. This is who we are, not just what we do.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Author and philosophy professor Ol\u00faf\u1eb9\u0301mi O. T\u00e1\u00edw\u00f2 leads Monday\u2019s convocation.<\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Ol\u00faf\u1eb9\u0301mi O. T\u00e1\u00edw\u00f2<\/strong>, an associate professor of philosophy at Georgetown University and a fellow at the Climate and Community Institute, served as the featured speaker for the Martin Luther King Jr. Day Convocation. He is the author of Elite Capture<\/em> and Reconsidering Reparations<\/em>, a contributor to Greta Thunberg\u2019s The Climate Book<\/em>, and a past recipient of a Marguerite Casey Freedom Scholar fellowship. His presentation was titled \u201cBecoming Firefighters: Climate Justice and the Fight for a Free World.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

He examined recent actions taken by the federal administration to seize oil assets in Venezuela and spoke about the political and economic power of fossil fuel companies. \u201cThe control those people and their allies have over our entire lives depends on the political power they wield and defend with the money they get destroying our air and water,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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A ceremony on Monday rededicated the EMU Peace Pole.<\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Following the convocation, a ceremony on Thomas Plaza rededicated the EMU Peace Pole with a vision for peace, justice, and shalom on Earth, including all living things (represented by a new plaque featuring animal prints). The Peace Pole was recently resealed and painted and has newly installed \u201cMay Peace Prevail on Earth\u201d plaques. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Simone McKelvey of Simone & Tuesday (pictured on right) guides students in crafting their own handmade soap. She has been making her own soap since 2013 and sells her soap at the Staunton Farmers\u2019 Market.<\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Throughout the day, the conference room inside the Student Life Suite transformed into an aromatherapy space, filled with the scents of soap and essential oils. Simone McKelvey<\/strong>, owner of the Simone & Tuesday skincare brand, led two interactive demonstrations, teaching students, faculty, and staff how to create their own soap from scratch using natural ingredients. \u201cYour skin is your largest organ,\u201d she said, \u201cand a lot of the time, we don\u2019t pay attention to what we put on it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Participants worked in pairs at eight slow cookers, melting coconut, sunflower, and castor oils, adding lye to distilled water, and mixing the concoction with a stick blender and essential oils to create bars of soap. \u201cWhen you go to the store and visit the soap aisle, some of them are soap, but some of them aren\u2019t,\u201d McKelvey said. \u201cSome are detergents made with synthetic chemicals. True soap is what you\u2019re making today.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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A student participating in a fire cider demonstration on Monday fills a glass jar with ingredients submerged in apple cider vinegar.<\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

The sound of knives chopping onions, horseradish, garlic, hot peppers, ginger, and other vegetables reverberated through the Old Common Grounds space on Monday as participants in two interactive workshops sliced and diced fresh, locally sourced, organic ingredients to create their own jars of fire cider. The apple cider vinegar-based tonic supports immunity and digestion and is packed with  antioxidants, antibacterials, and antimicrobials, making it an ideal remedy for the colder months. In about four weeks, the jars can be strained and used to enhance everything from seltzer water and salad dressing to collard greens, pickles, and hot toddies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The demonstrations were led by the sister-owners of Kinfolk Farm, a Black women-led farm in rural West Virginia dedicated to nourishing the brilliance, creativity, and legacy of Black and Indigenous people of the Global Majority.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Scroll through a photo album of the day below!<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n20260119-MLK Day - Unity March_MM-012<\/a>