Martin Luther King’s legacy inspires many, but for one organization, King’s influencers are doing some of the inspiring.

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Remembrance Week will include events ranging from breakfast with an appearance from U.S. Congressman Bill Enyart to basketball tournaments to discussions about King’s mentors.

Nathan Stephens, director for the Center of Inclusive Excellence, said the reason people still commemorate King is because his life served as a model of ways people can improve their own life.

“Quite frankly, the life and legacy of Dr. King is one that we should remember,” Stephens said. “We see our goal as educating and being an instrument to facilitate change.”

While much has been accomplished, Stephens said issues King fought for, such as equal rights and an end to racism, are far from extinct.

“There is still bias and racial related incidents occurring in the United States today,” Stephens said. “The legacy of Dr. King and others from the civil rights movement was to, in essence, eliminate those incidents.”

While much has been accomplished, Stephens said issues King fought for, such as equal rights and an end to racism, are far from extinct.

“There is still bias and racial related incidents occurring in the United States today,” Stephens said. “The legacy of Dr. King and others from the civil rights movement was to, in essence, eliminate those incidents.”

Stephens said the Center of Inclusive Excellence tries to mimic the messages King promoted in the 1960’s.

“The work we do at the Center for Inclusive Excellence and the Black Resource Center is to continue to educate and increase inclusivity to members of the SIU campus, and, as much as possible, the Carbondale community,” Stephens said.

One of the seven events, which takes place Jan. 23 is called “The Making of Martin: A Movement of Mentors.” Put on by an organization called the Progressive Masculinities Mentors.

“He didn’t come up with these things himself, he came up with these ideas from someone halfway across the world,” Stephens said.

Stephens said Mahatma Gandhi, a man who lived a separate life from King in India, was one of his biggest influences. The gain of understanding others when they are faced with adversity can be demonstrated by Gandhi’s role in King’s life, Stephens said.

“That tells us that we can learn from one another,” Stephens said. “We can influence one another in incredible ways.”

Benjamin Smith, a junior from Chicago studying speech communication, is a member of the Progressive Masculinities Mentors and has previously attended the King’s remembrance week before.

“Every time I go out, I experience something new and get new knowledge,” Smith said.

Smith said Progressive Masculinities Mentors’ goal is to challenge traditional masculinity and function as progressive men.

“Progressive Masculinities operates and functions through a quote by Muhammad Ali which states ‘The man who perceives the world the same at 50 as he did when he was 20 has wasted 30 years of his life,’” Smith said. “What that particularly means is that these men who are a part of Progressive Masculinities have a goal to always progress and be better as men.”

Smith said the organization meets and discusses topics that men do not usually talk about such as male privilege, sexism, feminism, sexual assault, rape and homophobia.

“Men who don’t traditionally know about sexism and things of those natures, we pretty much educate them,” Smith said. “So guys who are excessively homophobic come into this space, they can’t thrive because we challenge them to be better men.”

Progressive Masculinities additionally takes a critical approach to behaviors some men portray, Smith said.

“We find it very important that we unmask ourselves from the ‘cool pose,’” Smith said.

Smith defined “cool pose” as a concept derived from Jackson Katz, who he said is a specialist on gender studies and masculinity. Cool pose is a behavior in which men, especially those who are younger, act stoic, emotionless and hyper masculine, he said.

Another important thing Progressive Masculinities does is mentor, which was something integral to King’s life, Smith said.

“An important thing that MLK did was he mentored and he has been mentored,” Smith said. “So the event we are hosting will specifically talk about those people.”

Smith said students should want to come to MLK events next week because they create an environment of appreciation for a great historical figure.

“Just anything with MLK you should support in general,” Smith said. “Particularly these events are great because of the people, passion and work put into it.”

Stephens said students should come to MLK events next week so they can better understand whom King was and possibly, improve themselves.

“If we study who influenced him, then we can perhaps have our own semblance of greatness within ourselves and influence our sphere of influence, the people around us and our circle, our families, our friends and our residence halls and classrooms,” Stephens said. “Studying who he studied, in many ways enlightens us, and prepares us to enlighten others.”

Elizabeth Zinchuk can be reached at [email protected], on Twitter @ EZ_DE, or at 536-3311.