Civil rights speaker Mary Frances Berry, who is currently a professor of American social thought at the University of Pennsylvania, gave the keynote address on Jan. 19 as part of Baldwin Wallace's MLK Week commemorating the life and legacy of Martin Luther King Jr. Berry is an African American historian, writer, lecturer, lawyer, and civil rights activist who is well-known for her work in public policy and education.

Berry concluded her message to the BW community by expressing her confidence in the future generations to continue the struggle for equality, despite the fact that there is still much to be done to ensure that everyone in the United States has equal rights.

“Jimmy Baldwin always said – he wrote in his book The Fire Next Time – that if we’re gonna make social change in this country and achieve Martin’s beloved community, somebody’s gotta go through the fire,” said Berry. “There’s gotta be a generation that goes. And I say that each generation must make a dent in the wall of injustice.”

There will always be work to be done, she added, and it is up to the younger generations to complete it. She said that the improvements she made were enough for her time.

“I’ve given up thinking that I’m gonna change the world before I die,” Berry said. “When I was young, I said, ‘I’m gonna change the world, the whole world, I’m gonna be great, I’m gonna do all these amazing things.’ No. Just incremental change. I will accept incremental change and knowing that someday, we will have a beloved community. And we will be able to make liberty and justice a reality for all.”

Before acting as assistant secretary of education under President Carter in 1977, Berry served as the University of Colorado's first black woman chancellor at a top-tier research university. She then started teaching history and law at Howard University before being chosen in 1980 by the Ronald Reagan administration to serve on the United States Civil Rights Commission. Berry co-founded the Free South Africa Movement in 1984 with the goal of putting an end to apartheid in South Africa. In addition, Berry has won two N.A.A.C.P. awards and numerous other honors for her contributions to civil rights and public service.

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