Amid controversy regarding her selection as the College's Martin Luther King Day keynote speaker, Dorothy Allison used the occasion to reflect on the similarities between the civil rights movement and the contemporary gay rights struggle Monday night in Moore Theater.
Still, the white lesbian activist and noted author conceded that, like some black students interviewed by The Dartmouth before her speech, she too wondered why she was chosen for the occasion.
"Should not a black person already have been asked to do this?" Allison said before the sold-out audience.
But Allison remained unfazed. "I'm a nervy bitch. I can stand up and talk to anyone," she said.
In an interview with The Dartmouth after her speech, Allison directly addressed the concerns some students had.
While she respected their opinions and admitted her surprise over having been asked to speak, Allison said she felt indebted to the slain civil rights leader in her pursuits of freedom.
Still, Allison said that Martin Luther King Day should first be about members of the black community.
Despite these feelings and her initial confusion and hesitation, Allison felt that after being asked to speak she could not decline.
Allison, whose teenage mother went through a series of bad marriages, spoke about her childhood in the South and said she was inspired by King's words as a young girl.
She remembered sneaking downstairs and avoiding her abusive stepfather to watch the news coverage of the civil rights movement and King's speeches.
At times, Allison's Southern accent and bellowing declarations evoked the sound of the preacher she remembered in her speech, whom she credited with laying the foundation on which the current gay rights movement is based.
Allison added that she is troubled by those who have accused gay rights activists of stealing from the civil rights movement.
Regarding King, Allison emphatically told the packed room, "He died to make you and me free."
Noting the similarities between the struggles for gay and the civil rights, Allison reminded the audience that King preached tolerance and justice -- something she said those opposed to gay rights should keep in mind.
Allison was confident that "Martin Luther King would not have hated me as a lesbian."
Allison's address was preceded by speeches from College President James Wright, religion professor Clarence Hardy and Afro-American Society president Brian Sylvester '05.
Wright took the opportunity to praise Dartmouth's need-blind admissions process and reiterate the College's commitment to acquiring a diverse student body.
An award-winning writer who has published several novels about childhood and life in the South, Allison saw her critically acclaimed first novel "Bastard Out of Carolina" become one of five finalists for the 1992 National Book Award.
Students who attended the event, including Michelle Davis '07, said they were moved by Allison's speech.
"Her sincerity is inspiring, and she emits a sort of warmth that makes it difficult for you not to at least want to understand, if you can't already, what she is saying," Davis said.
Another student tearfully thanked the speaker for making her cry.
"And I don't cry a lot."
