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0 of 3 Premium Clicks used this month SUBSCRIBE Print + Online Subscriber Activation | Register x Forgot Password | Need an Account? subscribe | newsletter | deals Classifieds Jobs Autos Real Estate FEATURED » NEWS NOW Medford experiences hottest June on record ... In the heat of the night ... Our View: New high today ... Medford experiences hottest June on record ... In the heat of the night ... Our View: New high today ... EDITOR'S NOTES Editor's Notes: King event was a true celebration Comment By Bert Etling DailyTidings.com By Bert Etling Posted Jan. 22, 2015 at 12:01 AM By Bert Etling Posted Jan. 22, 2015 at 12:01 AM » Social News I wasn’t sure what to expect at the Historic Ashland Armory on Monday, except to not find parking nearby. I’d been warned. It was my first time at the annual Martin Luther King Jr. Day celebration in Ashland — or anywhere. There were events for school students in the two previous towns I’ve lived in, but no community-wide event. Perhaps, I thought, there’d be a song or two. A speaker would drone on for what seemed a bit too long. We’d depart feeling we’d done our duty. Boy was I wrong. The nearly two hours felt like 15 minutes. There was variety, but it wasn’t a show. It was a celebration, using the tools of speech, yes; song, yes; but so much more: Drumming and dancing, video, spoken word, music from many cultures. By the end, the packed crowd, estimated at about 800 filling the cavernous hall, had laughed, cried and celebrated the life and legacy of Dr. King — not in the way you learn from a lecture, not in a way you’re told what his life was about, but rather in a way that showed what his life was about. There were many extraordinary moments, among them Portland poet Alex Dang’s performance of “What Kind of Asian Are You” (check it out on YouTube; it brought people to their feet cheering Monday), but the highlight was keynote speaker Geneva Craig’s talk. It lasted a little under 20 minutes, but in that time she transported listeners to the oppressive atmosphere in Selma, Ala., where she was born and grew up. She was “a happy child, loved,” with a life that included laughter and sharing, she said. But as she grew up, she became more and more aware of the segregated society in which she lived. Craig learned the rules: You can’t go through the front door. Can’t get a drink of water from the good fountain — you have to go to the dirty sink in the corner. And there’s no restroom for the coloreds. For your own health, you’re taught to “never look a white person in the eye, only look at their feet. Say yes suh, no suh, yes ma’am, no ma’am.” Growing up in that world, “do you understand why I became an angry teenager?” Craig asked. “I had a desire to lash out. I imagined wanting to change society, but without knowing how. I was angry when I found the civil rights movement.” That was in 1964 and, as she recalled her feelings, her frustrations, Craig choked up as she said she resolved that she “would not live a life the same as our parents.” That was when Dr. King helped channel that energy. “He knew us,” she said. “He needed us. He spoke to the youth. He told me, he said I was intelligent, I was smart, that what I needed to learn was patience.” She’d need that patience when she was among marchers crossing Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Ala., on what became known as Bloody Sunday. “The sounds of billy clubs smashing against flesh,” she recalled, speaking in measured words. “The screams of my fellow marchers. Retching from tear gas.” All that, she said, “helped me to learn patience, to gain insight into humanity, to plant seeds and wait for results. “My life has been filled with many challenges,” she concluded. “I learned not to become rooted in fear. I learned when one dream ends, another begins.” You can watch the whole celebration (nearly two hours) on Rogue Valley TV at rvtv.sou.edu/southern-oregon-celebrates-martin-luther-king-day-2015. I highly commend it to those who were unable to attend, and look forward to next year’s event. Reach Daily Tidings editor Bert Etling at [email protected] or 541-631-1313. Follow him on Twitter at www.twitter.com/betling. By Bert Etling DailyTidings.com By Bert Etling Posted Jan. 22, 2015 at 12:01 AM » Comment or view comments Reader Reaction » STAY INFORMED Email NewsLetter Sign Up Today Sign up for our newsletter and have the top headlines from your community delivered right to your inbox. Southern Oregon Directory Featured Businesses Loading... 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