Under the baobab: Fighting for what’s right is ‘the people’s way’

"It is always darkest before the dawn." -Irish proverb

It was April 1968, New York City, Harlem. We were protesting Columbia University trying to build a gym in Morningside Park that would encroach on the community's use of the park. The Rev. Martin Luther King, the foremost advocate of peaceful protest, was assassinated at the Lorraine Hotel in Memphis. He had been in Tennessee to support the sanitation workers strike.

Harlem and many cities erupted. Our first response was great sorrow and grief followed by anger and fear. If MLK, a prince of peace, could be gunned down, who was safe in America?

Senator Robert Kennedy visited the Black community in Indianapolis. He empathized with the restless crowd, saying he knew how they felt. His brother was cut down by an assassin in Dallas five years before.

The people, hurting, still understood. Indianapolis was one of the few cities that did not burn. Bobby was gunned down two months later right after he won the California primary.

Columbia students unfurling banners and erecting barricades, added anti-Vietnam War and anti-racism to their agenda, called a general strike and occupied six buildings. In the end almost 1,000 students were arrested and nearly 200 people were injured when the NYPD violently cleared the building. The gym was never built. The Vietnam War ended five years later. Racism?

Some of us tried to carry on in King's name. We built Resurrection City in D.C.; the rain and police ended it. The Democratic Party's National Convention imploded in Chicago. Richard Nixon won the presidency and continued the war. Then came Watergate.

Contrary to popular myth, the '60s were a dark time in the struggle for civil and human rights. Progress came at a great cost. People were beaten, imprisoned and killed by the hundreds. When it was most difficult, freedom fighters dug in their heels, rolled up their sleeves and continued the struggle. It is the people's way. Whether it is the labor movement, suffragists, civil rights workers, or antiwar protesters, the people find a way, and if necessary, make a way.

Global warming, income inequality, restoration of rights are on the agenda. We have work to do.

Elsewhere in the community Congrats to Roger Williams and Karen Magnuson for being named this year's Renaissance Fund Honorees. Penn State President Neeli Bendapudi and several hundred donors, students and administrators gathered to celebrate "A Sacred Trust" and almost 900 enrolled scholars.

As of this writing both the men's and women's basketball teams are unbeaten. Our football team is nationally ranked No. 4 and is on track to make the playoffs. The No. 4 women's volleyball team has lost only one game.

The Print Factory, a new "antiracist, feminist and queer inclusive" community space and bookstore, opened this week in Bellefonte. John Eburne, Mandisa Haarhoff and Kathy Mitchell are its directors. What they consider crucial "from day one is to provide a space that is inclusive to anyone that steps through the front door."

The Indigenous Peoples Student Association held several events, which included workshops by Chef Tawnya Brant. She was also the Penn State Forum speaker. The Centre Film Festival included several films by Indigenous filmmakers which included in-person guest appearances by Julian Brave Noisecat and ishkwaazhe Shane McSauby. The Ukranian film "Dovbush" directed by Olies Sanin will be donating proceeds to Razom for Ukraine.

The Center for the Performing Arts presented a rousing celebration of "The Migration; Reflections on Jacob Lawrence" by Step Afrika! followed by a Q&A. The School of Theatre is presenting Steven Sondheim's "Sweeney Todd, The Demon Barber of Fleet Street" directed by Zack Steele at the Playhouse Theatre and "Much Ado About Nothing" directed by Steve Snyder at the Pavilion. Both run until Nov. 22.

Stay strong.

Charles Dumas is a lifetime political activist, a professor emeritus from Penn State, and was the Democratic Party's nominee for U.S. Congress in 2012. He was the 2022 Lion's Paw Awardee and Living Legend honoree of the National Black Theatre Festival. He lives with his partner and wife of 50 years in State College.