“Have patience if anything. It might sound small, but patience is the fastest key to life. A lot of our youth end up dying today because they just crash and burn thinking they know what they’re doing in their own lane and they don’t. … Have some patience, and your prosperity will come really soon,” said Anthony McCloud, a Junior Community Builder for the MLK Center-Indianapolis.

He joined us on Indy Style today along with Allison Luthe, executive director for the MLK Center-Indianapolis.

The MLK Center is running a Capital Fundraising Campaign from April 5th to the April 22nd.

This is a new program we started in January as part of a grant from the Central Indiana Racial Equity Fund and the Butler Tarkington Neighborhood Association.

The Junior Community Builders engage their peers from the neighborhood into MLK Center and let them know about the programs and supports offers.

The Junior Community Builders bring the voices of youth to MLK Center.  Youth have to be at the center of finding solutions to gun violence and other issues that come up every day.

The Junior Community Builders are part of the Nonviolence Training Team, that we’re currently beta testing and will launch this Summer.  

The Nonviolence Training program first started with our Executive Director, Allison Luthe and Community Builder, Charity Malone attending the Nonviolence 365 Training at the King Center for Nonviolent Social Change in Atlanta in 2019, to bring the lessons learned back to Indianapolis.   

This is one way MLK Center is addressing systemic racism and oppression in our community by educating others and giving them new tools.

Check out one of their previous stories here.

Text “MLKCENTER” to 44-321 to donate.

For more information visit, mlkcenterindy.org, facebook.com/MLKCenterIndy, twitter.com/MLKCenterIndy and instagram.com/mlkcenterindy

THIS SEGMENT IS SPONSORED BY THE MLK CENTER.

The Wabash College Malcolm X Institute of Black Studies (MXIBS) presents speaker Nate Marshall, whose virtual talk will highlight a day commemorating the life and leadership of Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. Marshall’s virtual talk will take place at 7:30 p.m., Monday, Jan. 18. 

Register here in advance for this program by Saturday, Jan. 16.  

After registering, you will receive a confirmation e-mail containing information about joining the meeting.

Marshall is a writer, rapper, and educator from the South Side of Chicago. He is the author of FINNA (One World, Penguin Random House, 2020), Wild Hundreds (University of Pittsburgh Press, 2015), winner of the Black Caucus of the American Library Association’s award for Poetry Book of the Year and The Great Lakes College Association’s New Writer Award.

He is also an editor of The BreakBeat Poets: New American Poetry in the Age of Hip-Hop (Haymarket Books, 2015) and the co-author, with Eve L. Ewing, of No Blue Memories: The Life of Gwendolyn Brooks. Marshall previously served as the Assistant Director of Wabash College’s MXIBS, where he was also a Visiting Assistant Professor of English and Black Studies. 

“We are thrilled to have Brother Marshall join us to reflect upon the impact of Dr. King’s life,” said Steven Jones, Dean for Professional Development and Director of the MXIBS. “Nate has demonstrated his ability to connect with all students in the classroom. I have always been impressed with the kind words students would share after his classes at the MXIBS while serving as a Visiting Assistant Professor here.” 

Marshall’s talk will cap a day that celebrates the impact and leadership of Dr. King more than 50 years after his assassination, and according to Jones, could provide some solace early in this new year. 

“Given the turmoil America experienced in 2020, this year’s Dr. Martin L. King Jr. holiday celebration should mean so much more to each of us,” he said. “Dr. King fought for justice until the evening he was shot down in Memphis. He gave his life so that we would one day judge each other by the content of our character and not by the color of our skin. King’s legacy is larger than his ‘I Have A Dream’ speech and I remain hopeful that the humanity he gave his life for will one day be embraced by all Americans.”

The virtual talk is open to the public.