Published Jan. 16, 2010
By John Trumbo, Tri-City Herald staff writer
KENNEWICK — Nearly 400 people came to the Three Rivers Convention Center on Friday to celebrate the successes in promoting equality and diversity in commemorating Martin Luther King Jr. Day.
But they left with a different feeling: knowing that the struggle must continue.
“Civil rights means nothing without civil engagement and responsibility. It is the hard work we have to do in society to ensure there is equality,” said Kimberly Camp, chief executive officer for the Hanford Reach Interpretive Center.
Camp was one of six panelists who shared their views about Martin Luther King Jr. Day, which is being observed Monday.
“To me, it’s a day to stand up for others,” said Paul Strand, an associate professor of psychology at Washington State University Tri-Cities, who was moderator.
“It’s about love, truth and equality and the right for everyone to have equality under the law,” said Martin Valadez, Columbia Basin College vice president for diversity and outreach.
The third annual community conversation was sponsored by WSU Tri-Cities Multicultural Club with support from the African American Community Cultural and Education Society, the Engineering Club, Business Club, Northwest Collegiate Ministries and Associated Students of WSU Tri-Cities.
As a panelist, Kennewick Police Chief Ken Hohenberg said he appreciates the progress the nation and the community have made in fostering equality and diversity, but there is “a long ways to go.”
He said there are effective ways to help young minorities not end up in the criminal justice system, but it requires community service and citizen volunteers who will intervene to make a difference in the youths’ lives.
Mark Nathan Lee, a panelist who is director of the Vista Youth Center in Kennewick which works with youth on lesbian, gay and bisexual topics, said more needs to be done to achieve acceptance on sexual diversity too.
“I meet youth who feel unsafe in their schools. We need a safe space at our schools with an advocate who they can talk to, independent of the school system,” Lee said.
Panelist Norma Rodriguez, an attorney in Kennewick, said her family struggled but worked hard to attain the dream.
“Martin Luther King Jr. provided opportunities to help us fulfill our potentials and reach goals. My parents were migrants. They had dreams they couldn’t fulfill, but their children did,” she said. “We all have to do our own part.”
The event included a buffet dinner and live music afterward.
There also were awards recognizing individuals for their efforts in promoting diversity and equality in the past year at WSU Tri-Cities. They included university teachers Dee Posey, Robert Bauman, Stephanie Bauman, Susan Pramschufer, and Rachael Tengbom, who founded Voices of Hope to help Maasai women in Kenya.
Also honored were Harvey Gover, adviser to the university’s Multicultural Club, and representatives of the African American Community Cultural and Education Society.
Additional news stories can be accessed online at the Tri-City Herald.