Jan. 26, 2012 | Jan. 26, 2011 | Teamwork honors the legacy of civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr., said an Arkansas legislator speaking Jan. 25 at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS).

The annual UAMS event celebrating King’s legacy featured a rousing performance by an elementary school choir followed by a call for teamwork from state Rep. Fred Allen of Little Rock. Everyone has a role to play to ensure equal opportunity, he said, whether it’s in education or life.

“It’s like my grandmother said, ‘if we all lift, it won’t be as heavy,’” said Allen, pointing to coaches, teachers, preachers and others who invested in his life as a youth.

Click here to watch a video clip of the event. Click here for a video clip of the event speakers including chaplain George Hankins-Hull, UAMS Chancellor Dan Rahn, M.D., Allen and Odette Woods, chair of the Chancellor’s Diversity Committee. To watch, select “high quality” link and then press the play button.

Little Rock civil rights leader Daisy Bates and nine African American students worked together to integrate Little Rock’s Central High School in 1957, Allen said. As a result of their work Allen noted that he was able to graduate from Central High School where he was an All-American basketball player.

Allen read a list of King’s achievements from 1957-1968, including the speeches he made, the number of times he was arrested for his work, the honorary degrees he received, being named Time magazine’s Man of the Year and becoming the youngest recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize.

King’s achievements also relied on the work of others who joined him, Allen said. “He surrounded himself with men and women who made a difference, who did extraordinary things because they wanted to make a difference in their community,” he said.

King’s supporters came from different backgrounds and had different roles but working together, they made a difference, Allen said. There’s work still do be done to improve our communities, he said, and teamwork will be a key ingredient.

Allen, a cancer survivor, said he recently received a phone call from a woman whose daughter had passed away from cancer. Allen’s business card was found in the daughter’s purse along with Allen’s note on the back to “keep on fighting.” The mother told Allen how her daughter was encouraged by those words and never gave up.

“If we’re going to make progress in society, in the state and in the world, we’ve got to keep on fighting,” Allen said. “They day we give up, we all lose.”

A choir from Little Rock’s Booker Arts Magnet Elementary School opened the event singing several selections including “Make Those Miracles Happen,” “Martin Luther King” and “Lift Every Voice and Sing.”

UAMS Chancellor Dan Rahn, M.D., said he has often read King’s “Letter from a Birmingham Jail,” which encapsulates King’s beliefs in civil rights. The 1963 open letter includes the famous line “injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.”

Rahn said he thinks King’s statements are no less true today than they were then. “We have to accept the responsibility to live that today,” he said.