As a part of its diversity events for this year, the Georgia Southern University’s Office of the Vice President of Student Affairs and Enrollment Management and the Multicultural Student Center are hosting a Martin Luther King Jr. celebration by having Dick Gregory as a guest speaker to empower and encourage today’s youth with his words.

Richard Claxton Gregory, or Dick Gregory, is a man of many talents. Being a black civil rights activist, comedian and author, Gregory has already done so much throughout his lifetime.

Gregory has used his talents to reach out and change the way black people are perceived through the view of white Americans. Gregory is a comedian in the same ranking as other black comedians, including Bill Cosby and Godfrey Cambridge. As an autobiographic author, Gregory has written two books and has had other works published. As an activist, he has participated in marches as well as parades and sit-ins to protest segregation. Finally, in 1992 he started a program called “Campaign for Human Dignity,” which was created to fight the level of crime in St. Louis neighborhoods.

Martin Luther King Jr. and others inspired Gregory to take part in the public issues that were hindering the United States. Gregory has been taking a stance against these issues since the 1960s and continued to pursue them until the 1990s, which is why he was chosen to perform at our school here in Statesboro.

“(I) went to (see) other speakers like Cornell West and Angela Davis and (Gregory) is a powerful speaker,” graduate student assistant Daniel Coleman Jr. said

This diversity event is not meant for an audience of any one race or ethnicity. All students and staff are encouraged to attend. The Martin Luther King Jr. celebration is about empowerment for anyone and everyone.

“It’s about empowering young people because we are the future,” Coleman said.

Though some may not know who the speaker is or all that he has done, the organizations hosting this celebration have high hopes for students, faculty and others to come and walk away with an inspired feeling when the event is over.

“A lot of people don’t know who he is but they will really get something out of it,” Coleman said.

The Martin Luther King Jr. celebration will take place at the Performing Arts Center at 7 p.m. on Jan. 26.

There are plenty of other diversity events for this year. Check out the Multicultural Student Center’s Diversity Calendar for more information.