“The Right to Protest for Right”: Honoring the Legacy of Martin Luther King Jr.

Joy Robinson ’28 introduced the assembly, making the connection between honoring King’s work and the experience she and others had on the Rivers Civil Rights Trip in the fall. Students on the trip visited the resting place of King and his wife, Coretta Scott King, in Atlanta, GA, among other landmarks related to the Civil Rights Movement. “It was an incredibly moving experience to witness the impact of his life’s work,” said Robinson.  

That impact was emphasized throughout the assembly, not only through video from King’s public appearances and anecdotes, but also through the powerful stories of everyday people who turned out to support the movement, risking their lives and safety for change and equality. 

Katherine Shaw ’26, another BSU leader, contributed to the programming, reciting Maya Angelou’s poem “And Still I Rise,” one whose message of resilience and hope aligns well with the work of Dr. King. 

BSU leaders also presented a video at the end of the assembly titled, “Courage, Justice, and Hope.” The video, which was created by BSU students and DEI coordinator tc Hanmer, included testimonials from students about why King’s legacy matters and what the Civil Rights Movement means to them.

As a teacher of U.S. history and government, Bagley offered historical context and perspective on some of the critical turning points in the Civil Rights Movement as part of his keynote address, presented via pre-recorded remarks. 

But, as the audience learned, Bagley has a personal connection to King as well. Coretta Scott King was Bagley’s aunt, making Martin Luther King Jr. Bagley’s uncle by marriage. King was assassinated when Bagley was only two years old, but he shared a few anecdotes about his interactions with King early in his life, as recounted to him by family members.

Addressing the upcoming holiday, Bagley posed the question, “Why did the federal government create a holiday in the name of this man?” 

“Our federal holidays represent values that we want to honor,” said Bagley. “This holiday is meant to celebrate not just a particular man, but the movement that he led.”

The video format of the address also allowed Bagley to intersperse photos and even video from pivotal moments in the Civil Rights Movement while he talked about them. Bagley walked the audience through the 1955 Montgomery Bus Boycott; student protests and sit-ins beginning in Greensboro, NC, in 1960; the activism of the Freedom Riders in 1961; and the march for voting rights in 1965, including Bloody Sunday on the Edward Pettus Bridge in Selma, among other events. Photos and videos on screen reminded the audience that what many see as “historical” events happened in the not-so-distant past. Viewers could see, for example, the energetic and massive turnout to King’s public appearances and the sheer violence and terror brought upon protesters on Bloody Sunday by men on horseback equipped with tear gas. 

Bagley expressed how student demonstrators and everyday people risked their lives and put themselves, sometimes quite literally, in the line of fire, through principles of nonviolence—occupying store counters, marching together, and asserting their presence and the right to exist in public spaces as Black people. In response, nonviolent protesters, like a young John Lewis, were frequently met with violence. Of the student sit-ins at the Woolworths in Greensboro, where student demonstrators sat peacefully to desegregate a lunch counter, Bagley shared that students often had to face jeering mobs where they were punched or burned by cigarettes. Instead of arresting the mobs, police arrested the students sitting in on charges of trespassing and disturbing the peace. In 1960, 3,000 student demonstrators went to jail when many of the stores refused to budge; however, some progress was made. A few months later, in July of 1960, the Greensboro Woolworths had desegregated. “Even more importantly, the students gave many Black people a feeling of empowerment, a belief that they could stand up for their rights and do something to help end legal discrimination,” said Bagley.

He also emphasized the organizations and organizers that emerged from the movement, including the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, co-founded by King, and the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, which mobilized students across the South and spread to northern states. Bagley also explained that Congress passed the Voting Rights Act of 1965, which supported the political participation of Black Americans in places where they had previously been denied the right to register to vote. 

Bagley concluded his address by emphasizing a key point—that ensuring equality and progress is an ongoing action.

“Martin Luther King Day reminds Americans of the importance of achieving and maintaining equality among its people as a critical part of achieving and maintaining a functioning democracy. The Civil Rights Movement provides an example of citizens fighting to achieve equality and, in fact, making significant progress. Most of these people were not famous. They were ordinary people, but they were ordinary people who did extraordinary things, just as you and I can,” he said. “They did what all Americans should do. It is the responsibility of citizens to observe what is happening in the country and to work to correct things that they believe are wrong through nonviolent protest.” 

Quoting a phrase used by King in his last speech the day before his assassination, Bagley added, “The Constitution gives citizens the right of peaceable assembly, what King called ‘the right to protest for right.’ The [Civil Rights] Movement offers us hope and an example of how to navigate our way through challenging times.”