Photo: Jillian Distler | Staff Photographer
As students eased back into college life after Winter Break, the week of Jan. 21 put a spotlight on civic engagement and diversity on campus as faculty and staff worked to create a week-long celebration of the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s legacy and continued impact.
Coordinator of Multicultural Programs Stephanie Diaz was one of the primary coordinators of this event, and stressed the importance of having an MLK week on campus because “it has been difficult in the past to focus on all parts of who he was [in just a day].” Diaz also shared that each MLK week centers itself around a theme, and this year’s was “social justice and civic engagement.”
One event from this week was a showing of the documentary “13th” in Gibble Auditorium Wednesday, Jan. 23.
“13th” is a documentary about mass incarceration in the United States, examining in particular the disproportionate criminalization of black Americans. “’13th’ fits in with [this year’s] theme as it is a really good call to action,” Diaz said.
It was not just Diaz who felt this way. First-year Matthew Harnsberger used the exact same phrasing— “a good call to action”—in describing his reaction to the film. He likewise made note on how significant it is to understand the multiplicity of history.
“History classes always cover the basics of slavery, sometimes Jim Crow and the Civil Rights movement, but don’t focus on how we have the current culture we do… the film really illuminates how the prison industry as grown to be [so] large and ubiquitously horrendous,” Harnsberger said.
This is part of why it is so important to make note of inequity in current events so that it can be understood and then properly addressed.
Diaz said most people “don’t think about incarceration or the prison system unless [they] know someone in it” and that “historical context is really important” so as to avoid “writing off those in the prison system as merely bad people who have committed crimes.”
What was especially significant about this showing of “13th” was that Director of the Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning and history professor at Grand View University in Iowa Dr. Kevin Gannon had visited campus to lead a talk-back following the conclusion of the documentary.
Gannon was specifically featured in the documentary and was able to use his ethos in understanding American racism to lead a thoughtful discussion about diversity, mass incarceration, and what can be done going forward.
The dialogue present was thoughtful and intelligent on behalf of the questions brought up by students in the audience.
Sophomore O’livia McIntosh made note of the fact that “police brutality…has been integrated over years and years of trying to beat black people down” and praised the film for the fact that it “posed questions and [then] answered them so intricately.”
As the film shed light on significant issues within the American justice system, there was a desire to understand what potential solutions should be pursued.
Gannon laid out his ideal stratagem for systemic prison reform, specifying a need to end cash bails, establish amnesty for drug related arrests, abolish private prisons and institute sentencing reform, i.e. outlaw the practice of “mandatory minimum” sentencing.
As far as what policies are actually moving forward, Gannon claimed that the most promising momentum was being seen in the abolishment of mandatory minimum sentences.
When tackling the ways in which problems in the justice system can be remedied, Gannon said it is important to understand that “the history of law enforcement in this country is radicalized and the first thing we can do is admit it and make sure that law enforcement isn’t above the law” because, ultimately, “the system doesn’t work unless it works for everyone.”
