| The King Coalition: Reclaiming Our Civil Rights |
| King Coalition Co-Chairs Ed Lee (l-r) and Dr. Gloria Hawkins with the Rainbow Banner that is traditionally on stage during the City-County King Holiday Observance. |
By Jonathan Gramling
Between them, Dr. Gloria Hawkins and Ed Lee, the co-chairs of the King
Coalition — the broad-based group of community members who put plan
several events during the King Holiday — have served 30 years on the
committee. And the importance of the King Holiday and the work that they do to
put on meaningful and relevant activities in honor of Dr. King’s legacy has
taken on a renewed urgency this year.
“Our theme this year is ‘Democracy Undone: Reclaiming Our Civil Rights,’”
Lee said. The intent of our theme this year was to really capture some of the
contemporary issues that are going on. I think one of the things that we
discussed as a coalition was there seems to be an assault on civil rights and
turning back some of the civil rights gains that have been made at a level that
is really unprecedented, certainly all across the country, but in particular here
in Wisconsin. That was what we tried to capture in our theme for this year’s
event. Certainly the Voter ID stuff and the racial profiling law that the state
turned back with virtually no conversation, no discussion, no awareness that
it happened are part of the list. And I think the list goes on and on.”
“I certainly felt like I was back in the 1960s with some of the comments that presidential candidates have made,” Hawkins said. “We
cannot just point to one particular candidate, but it was two days ago that this was stated. And so you wonder if the laws and the things
that are happening in statehouses across the country including Wisconsin are giving people carte blanche in terms of saying and doing
things that you wonder if they always felt about people and the communities in the same kind of way, but now they feel they have the
freedom to do and say things because it is now being accepted.”
The first event to kick off the King Holiday weekend is the 25th Annual Free Community Dinner that was initiated by the late Lea Zeldin at
the First United Methodist Church, which was moved about 10 years ago to Gordon Commons on the UW-Madison campus at the corner of
Johnson and Lake Streets. It features a fine cuisine prepared by the University Housing staff.
“It is no cost for people to attend,” Lee emphasized. “It starts at 4:30 p.m. and ends at 7 p.m. Folks can come and go within that time period
as they please. I think we will have a little bit of entertainment. I think we’ll have some youth doing musical performances, the Music
Makers. I think what is really special about the dinner is it is just a casual affair and an opportunity for folks to come together and enjoy a
meal together. There is no need to sit through long speeches or programs. It is an opportunity to come together, talk and fellowship. It’s a
chance to have conversation about the spirit of Dr. King and what is happening today as it relates to the civil rights movement and the
continuing struggle for equal opportunity. That is what I find to be so wonderful about the dinner.”
“For Hawkins, the dinner reflects what Dr. King was all about.
“There is no pretense,” Hawkins emphasized. “People are coming from all walks of life and they are coming together to fellowship just like
Ed said. I think it is really good that people who come from some of the higher echelons in terms of stature within the community also
fellowshipping with people who are down on their luck. It gives a sense that we are one and that if we support each other, perhaps we can
all benefit, both those of us who have been very successful or who are lucky as well as those who have not been so lucky.”
An event that the King Coalition promotes is the Urban League Guild’s 28th Annual King Youth Recognition Breakfast at Edgewood High
School on Sunday January 15th, the actual birthday of Dr. King. The breakfast begins at 8 a.m. and the League is expecting up to 900 people
to attend the event, which will feature the presentation of the Outstanding Young Person Award to 186 Dane County youth.
“The students are nominated by their schools and they have to meet three criteria,” Lee said. “They have to be excelling academically.
They have to have a track record of community service and volunteerism in the spirit of Dr. King. And they have to have a track record of
extracurricular involvement at their school. So we are looking not just for high achieving students, but really well-rounded community-
minded, high achieving students who really reflect what Dr. King taught us all that we need to be, folks who live their lives in ways where
we uplift and help each other.”
And then there is the highlight of the King Holiday, the 27th Annual City-County King Holiday Observance on Monday at 6 p.m. at the
Overture Center’s Capitol Theater. The keynote speaker is Rev. C.T. Vivian, a contemporary of Dr. King.
“Rev. C.T. Vivian is one of the civil rights pioneers,” Hawkins emphasized. “He was one of the people who were at the right hand of Dr.
King. To have him come and to look at things from the historical perspective and also see how they are quite relevant in these
contemporary times is wonderful. Hopefully in his message not only will people become cognizant of things that occurred in the past that
are similar, they will also see that correlation with what is happening now. I also hope that we will become inspired, ready to really march
and move forward to try to in a very nonviolent way take measures that will address these issues that we are being confronted with now.”
Most importantly, the observance is a time for people to recommit themselves to the ideals that Dr. King espoused.
“We are really thinking about rededicating our lives to serve others,” Hawkins said. “And in so doing, perhaps we can address some of
these issues that are reminding us that we have to really address these issues of civil rights in a collective of volunteers working
together.”
For the first time in recent memory, the King Holiday demands immediate action to preserve the gains made by the civil rights movement.
Freedom must be won by each generation.
“I certainly felt like I was back in the 1960s with some of the comments that presidential candidates have made,” Hawkins said. “We
cannot just point to one particular candidate, but it was two days ago that this was stated. And so you wonder if the laws and the things
that are happening in statehouses across the country including Wisconsin are giving people carte blanche in terms of saying and doing
things that you wonder if they always felt about people and the communities in the same kind of way, but now they feel they have the
freedom to do and say things because it is now being accepted.”
The first event to kick off the King Holiday weekend is the 25th Annual Free Community Dinner that was initiated by the late Lea Zeldin at
the First United Methodist Church, which was moved about 10 years ago to Gordon Commons on the UW-Madison campus at the corner of
Johnson and Lake Streets. It features a fine cuisine prepared by the University Housing staff.
“It is no cost for people to attend,” Lee emphasized. “It starts at 4:30 p.m. and ends at 7 p.m. Folks can come and go within that time period
as they please. I think we will have a little bit of entertainment. I think we’ll have some youth doing musical performances, the Music
Makers. I think what is really special about the dinner is it is just a casual affair and an opportunity for folks to come together and enjoy a
meal together. There is no need to sit through long speeches or programs. It is an opportunity to come together, talk and fellowship. It’s a
chance to have conversation about the spirit of Dr. King and what is happening today as it relates to the civil rights movement and the
continuing struggle for equal opportunity. That is what I find to be so wonderful about the dinner.”
“For Hawkins, the dinner reflects what Dr. King was all about.
“There is no pretense,” Hawkins emphasized. “People are coming from all walks of life and they are coming together to fellowship just like
Ed said. I think it is really good that people who come from some of the higher echelons in terms of stature within the community also
fellowshipping with people who are down on their luck. It gives a sense that we are one and that if we support each other, perhaps we can
all benefit, both those of us who have been very successful or who are lucky as well as those who have not been so lucky.”
An event that the King Coalition promotes is the Urban League Guild’s 28th Annual King Youth Recognition Breakfast at Edgewood High
School on Sunday January 15th, the actual birthday of Dr. King. The breakfast begins at 8 a.m. and the League is expecting up to 900 people
to attend the event, which will feature the presentation of the Outstanding Young Person Award to 186 Dane County youth.
“The students are nominated by their schools and they have to meet three criteria,” Lee said. “They have to be excelling academically.
They have to have a track record of community service and volunteerism in the spirit of Dr. King. And they have to have a track record of
extracurricular involvement at their school. So we are looking not just for high achieving students, but really well-rounded community-
minded, high achieving students who really reflect what Dr. King taught us all that we need to be, folks who live their lives in ways where
we uplift and help each other.”
And then there is the highlight of the King Holiday, the 27th Annual City-County King Holiday Observance on Monday at 6 p.m. at the
Overture Center’s Capitol Theater. The keynote speaker is Rev. C.T. Vivian, a contemporary of Dr. King.
“Rev. C.T. Vivian is one of the civil rights pioneers,” Hawkins emphasized. “He was one of the people who were at the right hand of Dr.
King. To have him come and to look at things from the historical perspective and also see how they are quite relevant in these
contemporary times is wonderful. Hopefully in his message not only will people become cognizant of things that occurred in the past that
are similar, they will also see that correlation with what is happening now. I also hope that we will become inspired, ready to really march
and move forward to try to in a very nonviolent way take measures that will address these issues that we are being confronted with now.”
Most importantly, the observance is a time for people to recommit themselves to the ideals that Dr. King espoused.
“We are really thinking about rededicating our lives to serve others,” Hawkins said. “And in so doing, perhaps we can address some of
these issues that are reminding us that we have to really address these issues of civil rights in a collective of volunteers working
together.”
For the first time in recent memory, the King Holiday demands immediate action to preserve the gains made by the civil rights movement.
Freedom must be won by each generation.