Observing the legacy of MLK at Lincoln College

 

[January 21, 2020]  LINCOLN - Despite the cold, many came out to Lincoln College Monday for the 12th annual Joyce Kinzie/Martin Luther King Jr. Scholarship Fundraiser Breakfast.

The event celebrates the lives and legacies of both Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and the late Joyce Kinzie, a local community leader.

All net proceeds from this event support the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Scholarship fund for minority students from Logan County attending Lincoln College.

Held in the Meyer-Evans Student Center dining hall, the event drew over 150 attendees. Attendees were served a large buffet style breakfast, which was followed by a program by an inspirational keynote speaker and music. The scholarship breakfast committee consists of the Reverend Glenn Shelton, Tom McLaughlin, Quentin Breckinridge and Ron Keller.



After Master of Ceremonies Tom McLaughlin welcomed everyone, Reverend Shelton gave the invocation thanking God for this time to honor and celebrate the life of MLK, asking Him to open everyone’s hearts and minds.



Lincoln College Criminal Justice Professor Donna Bradley was this year’s keynote speaker, a giant in her field.

Bradley has an impressive educational pedigree and employment background: a Bachelor’s in Political Science from Brown University, Master’s in Criminal Justice from Columbia College, Juris Doctorate from Howard University School of Law and Doctorate in Public Safety and Criminal Justice from Capella University. She previously taught Criminal Justice and Human Resource Management courses at Webster University, Maryville University, St. Charles Community College and Columbia College. Prior to coming to Lincoln College, Bradley was Director of the Graduate Criminal Justice programs for the Office of Accelerated Degree Programs at Lindenwood University-Belleville. In addition, Bradley had more than 20 years of experience as an attorney with a private firm, the Department of Defense and the National Labor Relations Board.

Bradley spent 16 years working with an inner-city ministry where she was responsible for helping clients with human resources and employment law matters. There, she worked with a disenfranchised population that included ex-offenders, homeless persons, addicts and others involved with the system.

On this holiday set aside to honor Martin Luther King, Bradley said she wanted to share how MLK personally affected her life through her mother.

Bradley said she would be sharing the past, pain, perspective, promise, partnership and plan. She called it a P6 Summit.

Raised in Memphis, Tennessee after being born in 1956, Bradley said she personally experienced Jim Crow Laws. In Memphis, Bradley recalls white and colored signs at the parks, water fountains, theaters and many businesses.

Bradley’s mother was active in the civil rights movement and pushed baby Donna Bradley in a baby carriage while carrying a picket sign. In civil disobedience, her mother went in white doors, drank from white fountains and was arrested many times. Bradley said her mother was upset with the system and its many policies, but never said a negative word about any individuals.

There was hope when Jim Crow was no longer the law; however, hearts had not changed. Bradley remembers the stench from a sanitation workers’ strike. She first experienced teargas when she and her mother went downtown to hear King speak, but riots caused the speech to be cancelled.

Soon after MLK was assassinated, Bradley’s parents enrolled her in St. Mary’s, a school where she was the only black person. There Bradley experienced hate and anger from other students. The teachers there had doubts in her abilities.

On a panel of women from various backgrounds and races, Bradley’s mother was once asked what would happen if her daughter dated someone of a different race. Her mother said she did not care about race but how someone would treat her daughter. Years later, Bradley’s son was taking a white girl to prom and mother made sure the girl’s parents knew. Bradley wanted to know what the girl’s parents taught her.

Bradley realized then her mother had taught her about character and spending time with people who had dreams and goals, and had shown her that problems were systemic and related to policy.

Years after she attended St. Mary’s, Bradley said she shared her perspective with some classmates. On a conference call with several classmates, Bradley was asked if she remembered the horseback riding, ski trips to Aspen and Christmas caroling. Bradley said she was not invited to those events, and some told her their parents said to exclude her.

That day, Bradley asked her classmates whether they taught their children differently. There were tears and forgiveness. As adults, they decided to move forward and Bradley has developed some great friendships.

Dr. King’s daughter Bernice said we cannot silence any voices when we are striving to build bridges. Bradley said that is the reason we try to build partnerships and create community. At Lincoln College, Bradley said we try to build relationships across racial, economic and gender lines. We must show others how to embrace diversity.

To make a plan, Bradley said, we need to make some deals. Bradley said people need to not make assumptions, not judge a book by its color and not jump to conclusions.

Bradley had a disruptive student recently and was frustrated with the behavior. After spending time talking to the student, Bradley found the student had some barriers to learning.  

Bradley said let’s make a deal to understand one another, learn from one another’s differences, be bridge builders and reconcilers. Let’s make a deal to listen, learn and love. Bradley said people need to build partnerships, have promise and to make plans to build bridges.

To get attendees thinking about these plans, Bradley said, “Ask what you can do to help build bridges. What can you do to invest in our community? What can you do to invest in our college? How can we bridge the divide?”

King said, “we must learn to live together as brothers, or we will perish as fools.” He also asked, “what is your life’s imprint?” Bradley said she hopes her life’s imprint is as a person who builds bridges and connects people and community.

After this powerful message, McLaughlin thanked the breakfast committee for putting the event together and those who were breakfast and table sponsors. He also introduced Lincoln College’s twenty-second president, Dr. David Gerlach.



Dr. Gerlach said this event was started in 2009 by Joyce Kinzie, Glenn Shelton, and Les Plotner to provide funds for an annual scholarship for Logan County minority students to attend Lincoln College. Gerlach said at the college, sixty percent of the students are students of color.

Gerlach said since the time Joyce Kinzie, Les Plotner and Glenn Shelton began the event, over $75,000 has been raised to help under-represented students in Logan County who had come to Lincoln College. Now that Lincoln College is becoming a four-year college, Gerlach said students’ educational opportunities are expanding. He is proud of the mission of the college to give students opportunities to transform their lives.




The 2019/2020 Martin Luther King Jr. Minority Scholarship recipients were Kristyle Rufus and Nicholas Cunningham.



Rufus graduated from Lincoln Community High School and earned an Associate of Science for Lincoln College in 2016. When she came back to school, Rufus said she was welcomed with open arms and did well last semester. Rufus went out on a limb, quitting a good job to return to school. She is now applying to nursing schools and hopes to become a travel nurse. Rufus thanked everyone for the support. She was especially thankful for the professor who helped her get back and forth to school and work at Eaton when her car broke down.

Cunningham is an LCHS graduate and junior in the Contemporary Jazz Studies program. He is also a regular member of the LC Jazz Combo. As a previous broadcasting student, he won a few awards in that field. Cunningham said he left Lincoln College to go to Western, but later returned because he felt Lincoln College was home. He thanked those who made the scholarship possible.




During the morning’s activities, Second Baptist Praise Ministry and the Lincoln College Gospel Choir provided inspirational music.

After the gospel choir sang, Reverend Shelton asked everyone to participate in gift giving. He said all the giving helps students grow and helps the scholarship fund for minority students grow.



As the morning’s events ended, everyone stood to sing “We Shall Overcome.”

Reverend Shelton concluded the morning’s event with a benediction thanking God for the gifts to raise up leaders.

[Angela Reiners]