海角论坛

February 20, 2019 鈥� The Georgetown 海角论坛  is participating in Georgetown鈥檚  with a department-wide celebration of an often-overlooked trip Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. took to Berlin on September 13, 1964.

MLK IN BERLIN

Already an internationally famous figure by 1964, King visited West Berlin on the invite of Social Democratic leader Willy Brandt, appearing at a memorial service for John F. Kennedy and at a rally before a crowd of 20,000. He spoke out against the newly constructed Berlin Wall, calling it 鈥渁 symbol of the divisions of mankind on the face of the Earth.鈥�

The same day King visited, a man named Michael Meyer attempted an unauthorized escape from East Germany. He made it to the Western side of the city but was shot by East German guards, suffering serious injury but surviving. After his speech, King requested to visit the spot where Meyer was shot.

King also received an invitation from East German pastor Heinrich Gr眉ber to deliver an address at a church in East Berlin. His State Department detail, concerned that a trip to Soviet territory would spark an international incident, withheld his passport. King crossed anyway, with border agents accepting an American Express card as identification.

In East Berlin for just a few hours that night, King gave the same speech in two separate venues, as church organizers were concerned about the possibility of a state crackdown if one event drew too big a crowd.

鈥淲e are all God鈥檚 children, and no manmade barrier can obliterate that fact,鈥� King said.

CLASS PRESENTATIONS

Each German class that meets this week is spending a minimum of 15 to 20 minutes discussing King鈥檚 visit. Professors have access to a presentation featuring details from King鈥檚 speeches, as well as a trove of additional articles and multimedia materials prepared by  and Ph.D. candidate .

Bryant, whose research focuses on diverse perspectives in German studies pedagogy, enjoyed bringing a rich variety of materials on King鈥檚 visit to Georgetown.

鈥淵ou could probably do an entire semester on this visit,鈥� Bryant said. 鈥淭here鈥檚 art and literature on this in German, it鈥檚 been performed on stage.鈥�

鈥淓veryone teaches about the Berlin Wall. This isn鈥檛 in it.鈥� Weigert said.

Professors will use their own discretion on which materials to utilize based on the level of course they鈥檙e teaching, and the presentations all offer additional resources for students looking to learn more. Bryant expects it to be a valuable learning opportunity for students at all levels, especially given that the visit has received little attention in German studies circles before this year.

鈥淲e have some documents in English and some in German, so depending on the level and instructor, there are options on how to teach it,鈥� Weigert said. 鈥淏ut the main thing is that there鈥檚 a commitment from the entire department. This is our contribution.鈥�

A UNIQUE CONTRIBUTION

Weigert is excited that the Department of German has found a unique angle to participate in Georgetown鈥檚 MLK Initiative, a cross-campus celebration of the life and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

鈥淪omewhere in the back of my mind, I remembered reading somewhere that Dr. King had spent time in Germany,鈥� Weigert said. 鈥淚 looked it up, and it turned out he had indeed been in both East and West Berlin鈥� shortly after the wall had been built. So I thought maybe we could do a 鈥渢each-in鈥� about this visit. This first time around, it鈥檚 a a bit of an experiment, but we plan to refine the presentation and ideally repeat this project every February.鈥�

Events thus far have included a nonviolent resistance campaign workshop, a screening of the film 鈥淩ebirth of a Nation,鈥� and the annual s.

In addition to the German teach-in, the remainder of February will feature a performance based event sponsored by the , as well as panel discussions on health in the Black community, race and higher education, and the changing nature of Black D.C.  for more information.