Spirit of King awards

MLK Evening of Reflection encourages living with 'dangerous unselfishness'

Colleen Rich — Wed, 23 Feb 2022 13:08:50 +0000

MLK Evening of Reflection encourages living with 'dangerous unselfishness' Colleen Rich Wed, 02/23/2022 - 08:08

Photo by Sierra Guard/Creative Services

With the theme of “Dangerous Unselfishness,” ��AV hosted its annual MLK Evening of Reflection and awards ceremony on Tuesday, Feb. 15. The event honors the memory of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and recognizes members of the Mason community who actively live out his vision.

“What makes the Spirit of King Awards unique is that these awards are given to students, alumni, and professional members of our community that do the active work of social justice not in performative ways, but in ways that are authentic and unapologetically transformative to the lives they touch,” said Hamal Strayhorn, director of the Center for Culture, Equity, and Empowerment at Mason.

The event was presented in a hybrid format in the Hub Ballroom and livestreamed on GMU-TV.

The theme comes from Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s “Mountaintop speech” delivered in support of the striking sanitation workers at Mason Temple in Memphis, Tennessee, on April 3, 1968—the day before he was assassinated. King said: “Be concerned about your brother. You may not be on strike but either we go up together or we go down together. Let us develop a kind of dangerous unselfishness.”

Strayhorn said the MLK Commemoration Committee wanted a theme that speaks to current events and connects a younger generation to past social movements for equity and justice.

“We wanted to awaken the fire within this generation to actively participate in the work to dismantle racism and structures of hierarchy of human value,” Strayhorn said.

As part of the event, a panel discussion, led by Jamie R. Riley, NAACP's national director of race and justice, examined how leaders are fulfilling the theme of being “dangerously unselfish” in teaching a new generation to understand the work of social justice, to address moving beyond performative ally-ship to being a co-conspirator, and ultimately looking beyond self-preservation for the preservation of others.

Speakers included Whitney Bunts, policy analyst, youth policy, Center for Law and Social Policy (CLASP); Payton Head, DEI strategist; and Derrick Lewis, national director, youth and college, NAACP.

Riley shared three questions to live by: Who am I? What do I believe? Why do I believe it? He asked attendees to then spend time in that uncomfortable space to reflect and be honest with themselves and then be willing to make appropriate adjustments to live in “dangerous unselfishness.”

“The panelists challenged us, in their individual ways, to reflect deeply on our own commitment to creating positive change toward collective liberation,” said Creston C. Lynch, assistant vice president, University Life. “They challenged us to be courageous, bold, and aspirational.”

“I was inspired by the collecting energy, and passion from the people in the room,” said Lynch, “from the incredible panelists to the students who asked such challenging, but important questions, and on to the award recipients and nominees who are doing so much meaningful work at Mason and beyond.

“It was an honor to be in the room with so many change makers,” Lynch added.

These awards were presented to those engaged in activism to improve our community:

Spirit of King Award (undergraduate student): Corwin Matthews, Global Affairs.

Spirit of King Award (graduate student): Shauna Rigaud Matthews, Cultural Studies.

Spirit of King Award (staff): Saskia Campbell, Executive Director, University Career Services.

Spirit of King Award (faculty): David Corwin, Term Instructor, Associate Director for Academic Affairs, Women and Gender Studies.

Resounding Voice Award: Stacy Chai (undergraduate student), Biology, College of Science; Sharrell Hassell-Goodman (graduate student), Education.

Emerging Alumni Award: Tauheeda Martin-Yasin, Cultural Studies.

Superior Service Award: George Mason NAACP.

Yara Mowafy Award (undergraduate student): Fiona Klotz, Integrative Studies.

Yara Mowafy Award (graduate student): Ayondela McDole, Cultural Studies.

Topics

Campus News

Center for Culture Equity and Empowerment

Martin Luther King

Spirit of King awards

Fighting the fires of social and racial unrest

Mariam Aburdeineh — Thu, 21 Jan 2021 20:16:18 +0000

Fighting the fires of social and racial unrest Mariam Aburdeineh Thu, 01/21/2021 - 15:16

In This Story

Gregory Washington

To honor the memory of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and recognize those on campus who actively live out his vision, ��AV will host the annual Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Evening of Reflection and awards ceremony on Thursday, Jan. 28, at 6 p.m. via Zoom.

“This year, it is particularly important to continue on with the Evening of Reflection, as we consider the state of our nation,” said Hamal Strayhorn, director of the Office of Coalition Building and Diversity Education at Mason. “Our nation has experienced the loss of 400,000 lives to COVID-19, social and economic disparity in full view, the continuation of black bodies being murdered by police without accountability and racial unrest. On Jan. 6 we all witnessed a failed insurrection in our nation’s capital, which was rooted in divisiveness and racism.”

“Our hope is that students and attendees will understand that in our nation and world there is still a lot of work to do around issues of social justice, equity and inclusion and that ‘the time is always right to do what is right,’” Strayhorn said, quoting Dr. King.

Mason President Gregory Washington will be the event’s keynote speaker and will address this year’s theme of “The Burning House,” which comes from another Dr. King quote:

“I’ve come upon something that disturbs me deeply. We have fought hard and long for integration, as I believe we should have, and I know we will win, but I have come to believe that we are integrating into a burning house…”

“How will our commitment to anti-racism work be like the ‘firefighters’ preventing the ‘house’ from burning completely down?” Strayhorn said. “[President Washington] will also look at how the work of anti-racism touches and affects our students, professional members, the local community, the commonwealth and eventually our nation.”

Following the keynote address, representatives from the student body will have the opportunity to ask questions relating to the theme, the work the university is doing around anti-racism, or how they can play a part in keeping Dr. King’s vision at the forefront of social change, Strayhorn said.

Students, faculty and staff who are doing influential work centered on Dr. King’s vision will also be honored with the Spirit of King Awards.

“The MLK Evening of Reflection shows that ��AV is committed to diversity, excellence, and inclusion and to addressing the hard questions of where we are as a people and nation,” Strayhorn said.