Reflecting on the Civil Rights Movement with an urgent call to action

On January 22, students, staff, faculty, alumni, and neighbors marked the beginning of Macalester’s spring semester—and honored the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.—by welcoming Columbia University professor Dr. Bettina Love to campus for a workshop and keynote lecture.

“Education is not just about getting a degree,” Love said during her lecture. “It’s about becoming transformed into a person of the world who is taking action . . . a person who understands that their job here is to leave this place better than they found it.”

A renowned scholar and author, Love offers a modern understanding of the enduring influence of civil rights activists.

In an effort to inspire today’s generation, Love encouraged them to look beyond MLK’s familiar “I Have a Dream” speech and consider other historical figures who helped shape the civil rights movement, including Coretta Scott King, Bayard Rustin, and Mahalia Jackson.

“There are several events that lead us to King,” Love said. “Rosa Parks was a trained leader and activist. No one’s life was changed without Pauli Murray. Coretta Scott King was also deeply engaged.”

Through this expanded lens, Love explored how intersectionality, community, and collective action deepen Dr. King’s legacy and its relevance to present-day movements.

“King’s ‘I Have a Dream’ speech was not the speech he came to give. While he was speaking, one of King’s closest friends, Mahalia Jackson, was sitting close by. Jackson waited until King paused and then yelled, ‘Martin, you tell them about your dream,’” Love said. “He heard his best friend say this and improvised. King changed the course of American history because he trusted a Black woman—and what he did was God-given.”

Love urged the audience to persist in the pursuit of equality. “We need folks who are willing to put it on the line and use their privilege,” she said. “We have enough allies—we have to become co-conspirators.”

Earlier in the day, faculty and staff gathered alongside educators from St. Catherine University and Wallin Education Partners to participate in a workshop Love facilitated, designed to help educators confront the harm their biases can cause in the classroom.

Through guided exercises, faculty and staff examined their own biases and learned how to address them and rebuild trust. Love offered strategies for teaching a richer Black history, and fostering a classroom environment that promotes justice, equity, and support for all students.

Before Love’s evening keynote, the New York Times best-selling author signed books for visitors. Twenty-five attendees received a free copy of Love’s most recent work, Punished for Dreaming: How School Reform Harms Black Children and How We Heal. Additional copies were available for purchase from Strive Publishing and Bookstore, a local and Black-owned business.