WSU Rounds Out Celebration Of MLK With 10th Annual Unity Walk

KMUW | By Carla Eckels

Published January 17, 2018 at 4:20 PM CST

Smokie Norful, pastor of Chicago's Victory Cathedral Worship Center, speaks at Monday's MLK event in Wichita.

Wichita State University is holding a final event Wednesday night to commemorate the life of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

The 10th annual Unity Walk is hosted by WSU's Office of Diversity and Inclusion, Black Student Union and the Delta Mu Chapter of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc.

The walk will begin at 5:30 p.m. at the Red Bud Trail, located at 17th and Oliver, and end at the Experiential Engineering Building on the WSU campus. The program begins at 6 p.m.

LeSean Tarkington, pastor of the Grant Chapel AME Church in Wichita, is the keynote speaker.

The 2018 Drum Major Award recipient will also be announced during the program. The award is given to a nominee for their service to the community. The person who receives the award seeks greatness but does so through service and love, something King encouraged his congregation to do.

During his 1968 Drum Major Instinct sermon, King said, “If you want to say that I was a drum major, say that I was a drum major for justice. Say that I was a drum major for peace. I was a drum major for righteousness."

The event comes days after hundreds braved the snow on Monday for the Dr. Martin Luther King Celebration at the Wichita State University Hughes Metroplex.

This year's theme was "The Quest for Peace and Justice." Grammy award-winning artist Pastor Smokie Norful was the keynote speaker. Norful highlighted Dr. King's ability to boldly speak truth in the face of adversity, telling the audience it's something we all can do to make a difference.

Rev. Don Crowley, the pastor of the First Church of God in Christ in Wichita, speaks at an MLK event Monday at WSU.

Don Crowley, pastor of the First Church of God in Christ in Wichita, said the program reinforced the notion of becoming more active and passing that on to the next generation.

"It's just a reminder of what we need to be doing instead of just behind the walls of our churches and homes," Crowley says. "We need to get out and walk it out after a celebration like this. We need to live it out."

Donations were given in support of the Greater Wichita Ministerial League's Hope Scholarship program to help young people further their education.

Carla Eckels is director of cultural diversity and the host of Soulsations. Follow her on Twitter @Eckels.

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