Concern for the poor and economic justice were highlighted in Preston N. Williams’ speech on Sunday, part of the Martin Luther King Jr. Day campus celebration.

In his speech, “Dr. King’s Unfinished Dream - Economic Justice for All,” Williams, a Houghton professor of theology and contemporary change in The Divinity School at Harvard University, said King had the belief that the American dream had an economic dimension.

“We don’t usually associate King with economic justice,” Williams said. “We usually associate him with civil rights. He sought our awareness as consumers and economic agents.

When the civil rights movement began, it was concerned with the economy, Williams said. The boycott of buses and merchants by blacks made their consumer power evident, he said.

Before Williams spoke, MSU President M. Peter McPherson talked of King’s legacy.

McPherson told the audience King’s message is universal and timeless.

“What he was saying to us all is that each of us as individuals have a responsibility to work for equal opportunity for others and ourselves,” he said.

Society needs to continue King’s legacy, Williams said.

“The proper place of beginning is, I believe, the poor people’s campaign,” he said.

The poor people’s campaign seeks the inclusiveness of all people and to alleviate poverty of all the poor, he said.

Williams said society has grown too comfortable with the poor, citing recent presidential campaigns and the lack of any discussion on the poor.

“We need a new activism that leads people to get it right and an adequate government that is pressured by the people,” Williams said.

Before correcting any kind of evil, one needs to look at all the facts, Williams said. After reviewing the facts, then a negotiation between parties can begin, he continued.

“The central key to King’s thinking was that we cannot have justice without love,” Williams said.

He said he hopes that people learn to be suspicious of the government and its lack of concern for the poor.

Dorothy Harper Jones, senior consultant to the provost for diversity issues and co-chairperson of the 2001 Martin Luther King Jr., All University Celebration Committee, said Williams started off the holiday celebration on an important note.

“He spoke on not only a scholarly level but an intellectual level as well,” Harper Jones said. “He really thought about his speech and what it would mean to MSU.”

Some students were impressed with what Williams had to say.

The speech raised many important issues, said Pooja Adhikary, an international studies and sociology senior.

“Closing the gap has always been said but to see the university and the area actually doing something about it means a lot,” she said.