When Cynthia Brass found out the University did not have plans to honor Martin Luther King Jr. Day this year, she knew she had to do something.

“I searched high and low. I called the offices and it was like ‘No, there’s nothing,’” said Brass, the president of the Black Staff and Faculty Caucus. “I said, ‘Okay, we can’t do nothing. We’ll do it.’ … I was calling on the weekends, at night, or doing whatever, just to say, ‘Okay, who can I get? Who can I grab?’”

On Wednesday, the Black Staff and Faculty Caucus and the Center for Black Cultural and Student Affairs hosted a celebration of King in The Forum at Tutor Campus Center. The event included songs, prayer, speeches and individuals sharing their dreams for the United States.

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Brass said that as she organized the event over the past month, she wanted to incorporate King, the harm of the recent fires in Los Angeles and the recent election while making sure programming incorporated students, staff and faculty.

“My thing is always to just put in perspective of what Dr. King’s vision and his dreams were, how they transpired from there,” Brass said. “When we look at it now, we’re like, some of those same things are happening now, some of those same things have slightly been corrected and changed, while there’s so much more that still has to be done.”

Among the speeches, Corliss P. Bennett, head of the CBCSA from 1999 to 2016, spoke on the over 15-year process of gaining recognition for the holiday honoring King in all 50 states. Though former President Ronald Reagan designated the third Monday in January a federal holiday in recognition of King in 1983, it wasn’t until 2000 that all 50 states recognized MLK Day.

“We shouldn’t be arguing about a holiday,” Bennett said. “This man did things that benefited everyone, and yet, states were just not hearing it.”

Bennett, who returned to campus for the first time since leaving USC, also talked about Stevie Wonder’s song “Happy Birthday” and its tribute message to King. In addition to Bennett’s examination of the song, the event included a rendition of Cynthia Erivo’s “Stand Up,” performed by Derrick Pough Jr., a graduate student majoring in popular music teaching and learning.

The program also included Rev. Brandon Harris, associate dean for religious & spiritual life, who connected liberation education, their work at USC and MLK Day itself.

“Our work here at ‘SC, our work as educators, our work as students, our work as faculty and staff is to create hush harbors, secret places of resilience and freedom,” Harris said. “No matter what the world around us may say, no matter what legislation they may come up with … there is a place where your value and your commandment and your dignity and your existence is lifted up. We are called to a sacred and deep work.”

After the event, organizers opened the floor for attendees to discuss their dreams for the U.S. Attendees spoke about division in the Black community, teaching younger generations and supporting one another.

Jaylah Wilson, a progressive degree candidate in social entrepreneurship, said she had a dream of a foundation of support for Black women amid an era of “DEI must die.”

“I think that it’s important to lift each other up, including the men in our community and our allies,” Wilson said. “Checking in on each other as Black women and doing what we can to elevate each other, because we have everything we need intuitive to us, despite what anyone wants to say.”

Christal Young, head of Leavey Library and student engagement, said after the event, she was glad she ended up going to show her support.

“It’s important to show up. You can’t help make change if you don’t show up, right?” Young said. “As you can see, it wasn’t super highly attended and everybody in the room counts and matters. So being able to be in community and being able to hear and share in everyone’s sentiment was really nice.”