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Penguins explore importance of MLK
By Jon Moffett
Youngstown
The Youngstown State women’s basketball team took to the film room on Monday, but the feature was a little bit more important than game or practice tape.
Instead, Boldon showed the team a video of The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. giving his famous “I Have a Dream” speech from 1963. Monday marked the 25th anniversary of the holiday honoring the most famous name in the American Civil Rights movement.
“I think there are a lot of lessons we could learn from Dr. King. But I just think we’ve come to a day where my son is only six, but all he knows is he didn’t have to go to school today,” Boldon said at his weekly press conference. “I think we have a lot of kids who think they don’t have to go to school and don’t have any idea why. My only intention was to explain to them why we don’t have school and why this really should be a day of activity and not a day of just sitting around and doing nothing.”
Boldon added that when he is elected president — he said that with a big grin — that all school-aged children will have activities throughout the course of the day. But all jokes aside, Boldon said the seriousness of the message was the point he was trying to make.
“I want them to understand that there is a broader spectrum of what is going on in the world and at least try to give them some perspective on life,” he said. “There should be some relation from his speech to their daily life, whatever that may be.”
Boardman High graduate and YSU freshman Monica Touvelle, who scored a career-high 14 points in a road loss to Butler on Jan. 15, said she saw similarities between King’s message and how the team is working through its season. Not trying to diminish the movement, Touvelle described how watching the speech helped inspire her.
“Over time, it took a while for racial issues to become better. It’s always been tough in our history,” she said. “Great things don’t just happen all at once; they take a while. So, this whole season isn’t going to just happen at once. We’re starting to adjust everything, but it’s not all going to happen at once.”
Boldon said if Touvelle or other players took that message from the clip then it was a positive.
“We’re fighting a much less significant battle here, but it’s a battle nonetheless,” he said. “If that helps, then fantastic.”
The next battle for the Penguins (3-14, 1-5 Horizon League) will fight is against Wright State on Thursday. The Raiders (10-6, 3-2) have defeated the Penguins the past six occasions, including a 61-43 victory last March.
What can Brown do for you?
Sophomore forward Brandi Brown earned her second Horizon League player of the week award for the week of Jan. 10. Brown had two double-doubles in the Penguins recent two-game road trip.
Brown, who also won the award for the week of Nov. 22, leads the conference in scoring with 17.6 points per game. She ranks second in the league with 9.4 rebounds per game.