Students march, sing and light candles for MLK

More than 75 people, most of them Pitt students, remembered Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. by… More than 75 people, most of them Pitt students, remembered Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. by participating in a vigil on the Cathedral of Learning steps followed by a march to Litchfield Towers lobby Monday.

Alpha Phi Alpha, of which King was an alumnus, sponsored the vigil, hoping to inspire community bonding.

When the vigil began at 6 p.m., Yannick Skerritt, the president of Alpha Phi Alpha, asked everyone to look around.

“This is what Dr. King’s vision was all about,” Skerritt said.

After Skerritt welcomed the group and others read a short biography of King, the group lit candles and sang ‘We Shall Overcome’ while marching to Towers lobby.

There, three members of the Black Dance Workshop gave a performance, a representative of the African Student Organization spoke about fighting against racism, and a representative of a group called Liberation in North Korea spoke about human rights.

A member of Alpha Phi Alpha invited the group to Talkback, during which they were able to voice their concerns about on-campus issues.

During Talkback, some students said they felt they needed more black leaders and more people to support those leaders.

After the event, Skerritt said that while in the past they sometimes struggled to inspire people to participate in non-social activities, the evening’s event brought a larger number of people, and not only from other black organizations like the Black Action Society. Skerritt was pleased to see Greeks and non-Greeks in attendance as well.

At the end of the ceremony, the group held hands, linked arms and prayed together.