Celebrating Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

To: College of Education Students, Faculty and Staff
From: Y. Barry Chung, Dean, College of Education; Cristian Aquino-Sterling, Associate Professor and Associate Dean for Diversity & International Affairs
Re: Celebrating Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

This Monday, January 18, the U.S. and the world once again celebrate the birthday of a most admired leader and champion in the struggle for social and racial justice, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. The SDSU College of Education joins our broader University and the Department of Africana Studies in this timely celebration!

The wisdom we find in Dr. King’s life vision, mission, and example could not be more pertinent to the work we do in the interdisciplinary field of education during these perplexing times. The events of the turbulent past year reaffirm the urgency of the call to reimagine and reconstruct education and other societal systems so that systemic oppression — especially oppressive dynamics fueled by anti-Black racism — no longer obstructs minoritized students’ rights to learn, to achieve, and to realize their life’s purpose.

As a way to celebrate the life of Dr. King, we invite you to read and reflect upon one of his writings. In “The Purpose of Education,” he affirms that education must enable all human beings “to become more efficient, to achieve with increasing facility the legitimate goals of [their lives].”

May we, as an academic and professional community of higher learning, continue to work arduously to make a difference in the lives of the people and communities we have the privilege of serving so that they may achieve “the legitimate goals of their lives.” May we strengthen our resolve to work for social and racial justice and peace through education.