Dr. King honored at the Pearl

On Saturday, Jan. 14, community members gathered at the Pearl Theater to commemorate the life and message of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. The free event, which was sponsored by the Boundary County Human Rights Task Force, featured art, music, film and presentations by guest speakers.

The first thing atendees noticed when walking through the doors of the theater on Saturday night were tables filled with art projects by Boundary County Middle School students: each one featuring a historical or contemporary figure who either stood up for human rights or had their rights taken away. Popular choices included Bob Marley, John F. Kennedy and Nelson Mandela. At least one student chose Harry Wu, a lesser-known contemporary Chinese human rights activist who was sent to one of China’s forced-labor prison camps at the age of 23 for being a “counterrevolutionary rightist”. Wu was released 19 years later, in 1979, following the death of Mao Zedong.

According to Dawn Wagner, who teaches art at Valley View Elementary and Boundary County Middle School, the students showed a lot of interest in the human rights project. Wagner says that she used the life story of Nelson Mandela as an introduction to human rights-related issues, but that the students really gravitated to the story of the youngest-ever Nobel Peace Prize winner: Malala Yousafzai, a 19-year old Pakistani girl who strongly advocated for women’s right to an education in her native province of Pakistan, and in so doing sparked an international movement. Her memoir, “I am Malala: The Girl Who Stood Up for Education and Was Shot by the Taliban,” made the New York Times Best Sellers list.

“Kids completely relate to her story,” Dawn said. “They know about the war in Iraq...and they relate because they know people who have been to that war.”

Founder of the Boundary County Human Rights Task Force Linda Hall kicked off the MLK celebration with a speech that touched on her background as a minority in Boundary County — she was one of two Asian-Americans living in Boundary County in the 1970’s. She also alluded to our region’s sordid history involving members of white supremacy groups, and took great pride in saying that at least a few of them have been driven out of North Idaho to spread their bigoted message elsewhere.

Barbara Robertson and India Kucherry took the stage after Hall’s speech and performed a beautiful rendition of John Lennon’s inspirational classic “Imagine”. The two would take the stage later to perform an equally impressive cover of Bob Dylan’s “Blowin’ In the Wind”.

Next on the agenda was a presentation by Dr. Timothy Braatz, professor of social and behavioral sciences at Saddleback and College and author of “Peace Lessons” and “From Ghetto to Death Camp: A Memoir of Privilege and Luck”, among other books. Braatz’s presentation told Dr. King’s story and featured snippets from his well-known “Letter from a Birmingham Jail”. It also drew parallels between the nonviolent civil rights movement that took place in Birmingham in 1963 and the recent nonviolent protests at Standing Rock that are still underway. Both events will go down in history as moments when the people of this country stood up to an unjust establishment in a nonviolent fashion. Both groups stood up for the inalienable rights of humankind, whether it be racial equality or clean water. Both groups faced off with violent members of law enforcement and, sadly, members of law enforcement are still using some the very same methods that were used in Birmingham over 50 years ago, namely attack dogs and water cannons. And while the victory at Standing Rock might only be temporary, both nonviolent groups won out in the end. In order to give atendees a more personal perspective of what happened at Standing Rock, the Boundary County Human Rights Task Force invited Daniel Craig to take the stage. Craig, a Native-American living on the Kootenai Reservation in Boundary County, travelled to Standing Rock to participate as a Water Protector and to represent the Kootenai Tribe.

“The experience altered my perception on life,” he told the crowd

Craig, who took his two daughters with him to North Dakota, said living amongst the family of protesters showed him that he didn’t really need the material things that most people refer to as “essentials”. The experience also restored his faith in humanity, as he met so many compassionate and inspiring people willing to help one another that he felt like he was more a part of a family than a group of protesters. Craig, who was one of approximately 25,000 people to stand up to the Army Corp of Engineers, was proud that he could take part in what he considers “part of history, something we had to do.”

During a question answer session after his speech, someone in the audience asked about what we can do here in Idaho to support the protesters at Standing Rock. Craig responded that the best way to help out would be to send donations to some of the camps that are sticking around in spite of the bitter North Dakota weather. Many of these camps, including the Sacred Stone Camp and Oceti Sakowin Camp, have websites set up where people can donate money online.

The event wrapped up with a screening of “The Mighty Times: The Children’s March”, which is an uplifting documentary focusing on the children’s crucial role in the Birmingham civil rights marches. Shown after Craig’s powerful speech, the film served as a reminder to everyone present that Dr. King’s message of nonviolence is just as important today as it was 50 years ago.