“I have the audacity to believe that peoples everywhere can have three meals a day for their bodies, education and culture of their minds, and dignity, equality and freedom for their spirits.” — Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. during his Nobel Peace Prize acceptance speech
MOUNT VERNON — Mount Vernon Nazarene University hosted a listen-and-learn breakfast on Monday that navigated Martin Luther King Jr.’s work and its place in the world today.
The event switches between MVNU and Kenyon College each year. This year nine speakers took to the podium to orchestrate how much King’s work mattered, and still matters today, while connecting it to scripture.
A list of each speaker is below.
- Welcome speech: Josiah Munro — MBA, MSM student at MVNU
- Opening speech: Rev. Tavaris E. Taylor — Special Assistant to the President & Chief Ethics Officer at MVNU
- Opening prayer: Rev. Dr. Rachel Kessler — Priest-in-Charge at Harcourt Parish & Chaplain at Kenyon Interfaith Partnership
- Remarks: Mount Vernon Mayor Matt Starr, Gambier Mayor Leeman Kessler, Kenyon College President Julie Kornfeld and MVNU President Carson Castleman
- Keynote speech: Bishop Ronald C. Todd — Chief of Social Impact & Opportunity at the Ohio Department of Development
- Closing prayer: Rev. Dr. Colleen Derr — Executive Vice President at MVNU
Each speaker naturally fell into a recurring theme from King’s work — “The audacity to believe.”
This theme felt uniquely different, yet unified, in each speaker’s remarks — a fitting idea when referencing King’s civil rights work.
Below are headings for a few of the speakers that contain direct quotes from their speeches or prayers.
Josiah Munro
“Dr. King once reminded us that the time is always right to do what is right. This morning is not about nostalgia.
“This morning, this time, this moment — it’s about alignment between our values and our actions, between our words and our will.
“So, as we share this meal and this moment, may we leave here not merely just well fed, but inspired, accountable, accountable to truth, accountable to justice, and most importantly, accountable to one another.”
Rev. Tavaris E. Taylor
“We come together [from] different campuses, different sides of town, different religions, different expressions and we come together under the banner of unity.
“So, with that in mind, as we sit in this moment, let us sit in unity. We have plenty of time for difference; I promise you, there’ll be plenty throughout the day and the week. Just turn on the news, or don’t turn it on, whatever your preference is, plenty of time and opportunity for difference.
It takes a lot more work for peace.”
Mayor Matt Starr
“In the face of hatred, violence and seemingly insurmountable injustice, Dr. King dared to believe in a better world and he refused to accept cynicism. He chose hope over despair and unity over division.
“But, what I can’t help but think about is in all of the public life that he had, and anybody in leadership really understands this, I can’t help but wonder about what took place, the type of change that he created, in those quiet places.
“In the diners, where conversations took place over coffee and pie. In church upper rooms, where strategies were prayed over and planned. At kitchen tables, where families found courage, and hotel lobbies where travelers found solidarity.
“I have to believe in those unseen moments, without fanfare, without headlines, without applause or even credit, that the real work happened, and that’s the quiet work of leadership.”
Mayor Leeman Kessler
“The reason it’s audacious, the reason it’s scandalous to believe in a better world is because it defies the powerful, the bigoted and the cowardly.
“[The powerful, bigoted and cowardly] don’t believe in anything more than might makes right, [they] don’t believe that there’s anything more powerful than the barrel of a gun, the heft of a nightstick or the strength of shackles.
“But Dr King knew, and we know, that real strength comes not from what you can take from your neighbor, but how you can lift them up. We have the ability to build a better world.”
Dr. Julie Kornfeld
“In today’s world, it can be very tempting to stay in our separate bubbles, to focus on the things that divide us.
“But, Dr. King’s words and examples are reminders that the real answer to these trying times, when so many people are overwhelmed by feelings of anger and fear and confusion, is what we find in each other. It’s community,” Kornfeld said.
“At Kenyon, we talk a lot about the importance of preparing to live a life of purpose and consequence. And, not all of that takes place in the classroom; and our students know that.
“They know, just as you do, that we are all partners in continuing Dr. King’s unfinished work here in our community. None of this is to minimize the challenges we face, combatting injustice is not easy.
“But, the weight of this work, I believe, is lighter when we bear it together, when we talk and we listen to each other peacefully and civilly.”
Dr. Carson Castleman
“This morning is not only about remembrance, it’s about renewal. It’s about renewing our commitment as people of dignity, people of justice, people of service and people of our community,” Castleman said.
“One of [King’s] quotes that I love so much [is] … ‘I have decided to stick with love, because hate is too strong of a burden to carry.’
“It is my hope and prayer that in this community and in our world, that we would stick with love, because hate truly is too big of a burden to carry.”
“We at Mount Vernon Nazarene University, we are Christ centered academic community, and we believe that every person is created in the image of God with inherent dignity and worth.
“We also believe that at MVNU we will stick to the biblical truth, as Dr. Martin Luther King did, and we will stand with it.”
Bishop Ronald C. Todd
“Today, we have to put the work in, which I see that you’re doing here in Knox County. I see that you’re doing that at Mount Vernon Nazarene University, I see what you’re doing in Kenyon College and also my fellow mayors; you put the work in.
“Dr. King was not just a dreamer, he was a believer.
“He had the holy audacity to believe. Hebrews 11:1 states, ‘Now, faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.’
“That means you can’t always see it, but you can still believe it.
“Second Corinithians 5:7 says, ‘For we walk by faith, not by sight.’ That’s what Dr. King did.
“He walked by faith through threats, through hate, through jail cells and he still kept walking.”
