Once-presidential candidate and renowned speaker Rev. Jesse Jackson spoke alongside Penn Professor Michael Eric Dyson before a packed audience in Irvine Auditorium last night.
The two spoke at the third annual Martin Luther King lecture in Social Justice, sponsored by the Center for Africana Studies.
Dyson captured the tone of the event in saying that some have "frozen King's legacy into a single moment" and have "seized upon the language of King but have taken the meaning out of it."
The lecture was part of the monthlong symposium of social justice in King's memory.
University President Judith Rodin introduced the program by stressing the importance of seeking out inspiration. She told how King became inspired upon hearing a lecture about Gandhi at Penn's campus in 1948.
The enthusiastic audience gave standing ovations after each speaker was introduced.
Director of the Africana Center Tukufu Zuberi, who moderated the discussion, began by questioning the meaning of King's legacy 75 years after his birth.
Jackson, leader of the Rainbow/PUSH Coalition and political activist, responded by recounting how King spent his last birthday organizing marches, protesting the Vietnam War and fighting poverty.
"Mass action, mass sacrifice whose impact was an attempt to change laws," Jackson said in describing King's legacy.
Both Jackson and Dyson praised King not only for the dream he had, but the action he wanted to see implemented with it.
As Jackson said, "The focus must be on the promise and not a dream because the dream doesn't have a budget attached to it."
The speakers did not shy away from topical issues or pointed attacks. Jackson expressed his disgust for a judicial system that would incarcerate countless black males on drug-related charges while President Bush's daughters were not prosecuted.
A highlight of the evening was Jackson and Dyson's disagreement over the importance of action over analysis.
In commenting on the state of black leadership, Jackson attacked black intellectuals, such as university professors, saying, "You can't compensate for action with analysis."
Dyson responded that in reality, "action must be wedded to analysis" in order to drive change.
Jackson shot back that "those who know have the most obligation and Dr. King would never have just analyzed."
After their exchange, Dyson then went over to hug Jackson to a roomful of applause.
Dyson is perhaps most famous for his controversial biography of King. In it he acknowledges King's extramarital affairs and plagiarism.
Dyson responded to his critics tonight when he said, "It is important to talk about the good, the bad and the ugly regarding the failures of a man who was still the greatest American produced on American soil."
The enthusiastic audience warmly received both speakers. Penn alumna June White, who heard about the talk from the Internet, waited two weeks to get tickets.
"Michael didn't disappoint and Jackson was as brilliant as ever," she said.
Shelda Glover, executive director of University City Marching Against Drugs, brought her daughter along so she "could identify with positive role models."
College freshman Kristal Elliston said she especially enjoyed Jackson's call to action.
"I think there should be a requirement for all Penn students in community service. There is nowhere near the level of involvement that there could be."
