Civil rights advocate honors local leaders

Minnijean Brown Trickey, a civil rights advocate, spoke at the 36th annual Martin Luther King Jr. commemoration ceremony at the Turner Auditorium on Jan. 19. Brown Trickey was a member of the Little Rock Nine, a group of black students who were enrolled at the all-white Little Rock Central High School during the Civil Rights Era.

The Little Rock Nine attended school under the protection of federal troops in 1957, while schools were just beginning to be desegregated.

The commemoration honored eight individuals for their contributions to the community. The theme for this year’s commemoration was “What are you doing for others?”

Dr. Levi Watkins, the first African-American chief resident of cardiac surgery at the Johns Hopkins Hospital, organized this event to celebrate the legacy of Martin Luther King Jr. and the spirit of service he embodied.

Master of Ceremonies Kenneth Grant introduced Brown Trickey. As a high school student at Central High School, she was on the frontline of the civil rights movement.

James Page, the vice president and chief diversity officer for Johns Hopkins Medicine and the mediator of the keynote address, asked Brown Trickey to elaborate on her experience as an icon of the civil rights movement.

“As much as we make people heroic, for all these different reasons, we are really basically not heroic, we are just ordinary people, and circumstances come along and make it seem as if you’re a hero,” Brown Trickey said.

As an adult, Brown Trickey pursued an academic career in social work and activism, immersing herself in the world of peace-making and nonviolence. She has received numerous awards and honorary doctorates for her work in community service and social justice.

Brown Trickey recounted her experience of being part of the Little Rock Nine, the first group of African-American students to attend Central High School in Little Rock, Ark.

Their attempt at enrollment, and the resulting desegregation of the school, incited violence and riots within the community in September of 1957. Eventually, with the support of President Eisenhower and the protection of federal troops, the students went on to attend the school.

Dr. Paul Rothman, the vice president for medicine of the Hopkins and CEO of Johns Hopkins Medicine, addressed the current political and social climate of the U.S., urging the audience to understand that we as a nation are a work in progress, and all of us have the opportunity to contribute.

“So many people in the audience and around the country are all foot soldiers of justice, who are working towards social justice,” he said.

Rothman also elaborated on the community service initiatives that various aspects of the Hopkins community are engaged in. He addressed the efforts of individuals such as Juliet Robinson, one of the recipients of this year’s Martin Luther King Jr. service award, and the efforts of collective movements such as the HopkinsLocal and BLocal initiatives.

Dr. Redonda Miller, the president of the Johns Hopkins Hospital, was appreciative of the work the service recipients and other service leaders conducted in and outside of Hopkins.

“I see you reading to school children, I see you cleaning up a park, organizing food drives, working for the United Way, whatever it may be. And these are meaningful efforts that you do,” she said.

Brown Trickey expressed appreciation for the individuals being honored for the contributions to the community.

“This is a life sentence, this activism as I’m seeing here, so take it and run with it,” she said.

Brown Trickey also discussed how the underlying issues of different forms of racial, sexual and social discrimination remain the same, despite the passage of time.

“At 76, I’m disturbed that we should even be having the same kind of discussions… That disturbs me. That’s where I find my despair. Dr. King talked about uprisings, riots, voices of the unheard,” she said. “When we feel unheard, that means there are very deep institutional problems that we are not dealing with.”

Students like fourth-year graduate student Meiling May identified with Brown Trickey’s words.

“Things have not changed as much as we thought they had,” she said. “I hadn’t really thought of it in that perspective.”

Other students, like fourth-year graduate student Cory White recognized that, in comparison to the past, things have changed. When asked to elaborate, White explained that his parents were part of the first integrated classes in Metro Atlanta.

“I usually come to this event each year, just to celebrate the commemoration of MLK,” he said. “It’s a really good event that the University sponsors and puts on and it gives a good time to reflect.”