What Martin Learned from Mary

By: Dr. Headley White

Associate Professor, B-CU College of Education

B-CU faculty, staff, and students share reflections on the life of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. in relation to Mary McLeod Bethune

As we remember the many contributions of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. on the third Monday of January 2020, it becomes clear that righteousness flows from many rivers. We find ourselves fortunate to be on the campus of Bethune-Cookman University for both learning and respite from a society that has not always been inviting to those that seek the righteous path, to change the status quo, to elevate all in our society to the fullest measure of the Founding Fathers’ Constitutional promises. 

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. knew the benefits afforded him from the vantage point of viewing situations from atop the shoulders of civil rights elders.  He surrounded himself with and sought counsel of those best equipped to help further the struggle. Dr. Mary McLeod Bethune was such a person.  She persisted, continually and unequivocally. She made the impossible possible and bended those to her will who were historically against the progress she sought. Quiet courageous actions were a hallmark of her life and helped to reinforce the resolve of young leaders like Dr. King who sought counsel with her. He made several visits and spoke at Bethune Cookman’s  commencement on May 26, 1958. 

In the village that comprised the civil rights movement of the 20th century, she was a village elder. The confluence of events that occurred during the movement that led to the meeting of these titans wasn’t a rare occurrence, but it is something that is sorely missed today. As we reflect on who and what Dr. Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. represented, we have to remember all whose shoulders he and future and current activists stand.