By Neil Offen

noffen@heraldsun.coml 419-6646

DURHAM -- Holding white candles flickering under a darkening sky, several hundred people gathered in front of Duke Chapel on Monday evening to remember Martin Luther King Jr. and promise not to forget Haiti.

Duke University's annual MLK March and Candlelight Vigil took on special meaning because of the Haitian earthquake, Benjamin Reese, Duke University's vice president for institutional equity, told the crowd.

Reese said he recalled how the huge gatherings at civil rights marches in the 1960s dwindled down over the years that followed. He hoped something similar wouldn't happen now.

"What kind of focus will the world put on Haiti in three months or six months?" he asked. "The responsibility is on all of us to still be engaged in support for Haiti in the months to come. I deeply hope you will not forget Haiti and the broader commitment we all have to other citizens of the world."

Noting that the "truest measure of honoring Dr. King's legacy would be to bring his ideology to life," Portia Boone, the president of Duke's chapter of the NAACP, said that the Haitian disaster offers us all an opportunity.

"We can honor his legacy by coming together collectively," she said. "We are lighting these candles tonight in honor of Martin Luther King but also for the victims of the Haiti earthquake. We honor his legacy by helping Haiti."

The disaster in Haiti cast a somber shadow on what is generally a celebratory and hopeful event. The candles were lit while graduate student Reginald Patterson played mournfully on his violin. Two Duke students, Isabelle Figaro, who spent her winter break working in Haiti, and Fernande Legros, who is of Haitian origin, illustrated the interwoven relationships by taking turns reading King's famous "I have a dream" speech in English and Creole, the Haitian dialect.

The crowd -- mostly students but with a sprinkling of faculty and community members -- had walked slowly down Chapel Drive, singing softly the words to "We Shall Overcome," the anthem of the civil rights movement. When they reached the chapel, information about Haiti relief was handed out."

Alfred George, a freshman at Duke, said he had come to the vigil although he "had a lot of homework to do" and was very busy.

"But this is the first time I've had a chance to be a part of this," he said. "I wanted to be here to commemorate a great man, and to show my support for what he stood for."

Melissa Lipton came with her husband and her two children, 7-year-old Ariana and 5-year-old Bianca.

"We all wanted to honor the wonderful life Martin Luther King lived," Lipton said. "What he did was worth remembering, particularly at this time."