The life and legacy of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was celebrated at N.C. Central University, in the B.N. Duke Auditorium, Jan. 17.

Gwendolyn E. Boyd was the guest speaker. She honored King and challenged everyone to rise up and take action.

Boyd said that no matter how long or difficult his journey, King was unswerving in his dedication to his life’s work.

“Stop complaining [and] making excuses,” she said. “Move towards fulfillment, economic prosperity and honoring justice in our lives. Requirements for this millennium are more than material things.”

Boyd said that when King walked to Montgomery he didn’t walk alone; he walked with the help of people who wanted to make a difference.

She said that in today’s society a struggle continues that suppresses our will power, and taunts our achievements and integrity.

“Keep a deep belief in your own dignity,” she said. “Feel that you count and have worth. Be a bush if you can’t be a tree. If you can’t be a highway be a sign. Today is the day to get up, [and] get moving.”

Boyd said not only are communities too quiet, but they have lost their voices and stopped believing in themselves.

She said society struggles with starving children in the U.S., while other countries are receiving money to rebuild.

She then mentioned how the criminal justice system is being reversed, revised and revamped.

She said too much power is in the Bush Administration, and that schools are war zones where teachers are not getting enough pay.

Boyd even challenged the eagle community to be leaders, not of tomorrow, but of today — to aim high when setting goals for the community.

“Rise up, take action, accept the banner of courage and King’s values,” she said. “Take a role of leadership, because only a place of work comes before success,” by which she means one has to work hard in order to get to the top. “Be excellent — excellent in everything we do for leadership.”

Transfer student Carmine Johnson said that Boyd was an eye-opener and an excellent speaker.

“I would like to see her [on] more occasions,” Johnson said. “I think she can really make a difference.”

During her 2002 to 2004 administration as national president, Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc., founded Project Science in Everyday Experiences, an initiative to promote science and math to African American youth.

Boyd graduated from Alabama State University with a bachelor’s degree in mathematics and was the first African-American woman to earn a master’s degree in mechanical engineering from Yale University.

She is currently pursuing a master of divinity degree at Howard University.

Boyd started her career as an engineer at the John Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, and is now the chair of the university’s Diversity Leadership Council and executive assistant to the university’s chief of staff.

“If I can live the example, help, cheer and guide somebody as King did, then my living is not [in] vain. I encourage you to do the same,” said Boyd.

“Nobody told us the road was going to be easy, but I know God did not take us this far to leave us. Rise up and take action.”