Alumnus, judge reflects on past, offers hope for future at Black History Month celebration
Organizers and participants at the MCC Black History Month Celebration are Brandon
Dewease, Rhonda Smith, N’spire Walker, Marlo Turner, Hon. Kenneth Dustin Markham,
Kim Rush, Laureta Chisolm and Ashley Tanksley.
From musical to dance presentations and tributes to testimonies, Meridian Community College’s Black History Month’s Celebration’s Know the Past, Shape the Future offered takeaways for the college and community audience.
Keynote speaker the Hon. Kenneth Dustin Markham, municipal court judge for the City of Meridian and an alumnus of the College, explored and recrafted the celebration’s theme to knowing our past and shaping our future.
Markham, an MCC 2014 Hall of Fame honoree, noted he was proud to be an MCC student and that everyone – those who have or will have or now attending MCC – has an MCC story. “Even from the bench in the courtroom as I enroll those wanting a second chance at life in the MCC Adult Education Program instead of making them serve jail time because I know they can do better… I’m proud to tell my MCC story.”
“Meridian Community College has made a judge, an attorney, and most importantly, a graduate,” he said in referring to himself. “In 2003, Meridian Community College shaped the future in 2022 by shaping me.”
The speaker delved into the past and paths of Ruby Bridges, the first African-American child to desegregate a New Orleans school, baseball home run legend Hank Aaron, Dr. Theodore Roosevelt Mason Howard, civil rights activist, and Stacey Abrams, who founded the Fair Fight initiative. “Remembering the past gives power to the present,” Markham said, adding, “the way you remember the past depends on your hope for the future.”
“There’s still work to be done, achievements to be made. We must take on this world by being fearless like Ruby Bridges, persevere like Hank Aaron, be brave and versatile like Dr. Howard, and be courageous like Stacy Abrams. But we can’t stop there,” he said.
“Once you become fearless, life becomes limitless,” Markham added.
Markham, who was a student recruiter when he studied at MCC, was gifted a new Ivy
League Recruiter sweatshirt hoodie after his presentation in the MCC-Riley Workforce
Development Center.