LEWISTON – As a college professor, political pundit, seminary student and single mother, Melissa Harris-Lacewell said there is little time left in her busy schedule to read much these days.

But this year’s keynote speaker at the annual Martin Luther King Jr. Observance at Bates College not only captivated a crowd, but taught a powerful lesson about faith thanks to a beloved children’s character – “Edwina, The Dinosaur Who Didn’t Know She Was Extinct.” Reading aloud the children’s book written by Mo Willems, Harris-Lacewell introduced the more than 200 students, faculty and others who braved bad weather to attend Sunday’s MLK Memorial Service to a woman, well, a dinosaur, who faced adversity with courage, understanding and love.

And then she challenged them to consider the endless possibilities of a generation charged and ready for change.

“It’s important to bring this history to the forefront and remember that things haven’t always been this way,” said Stephanie Howson, 21, a Bates College senior from Westport, Conn., who helped organize this year’s observance. “We’ve come a long way, but we have a long way to go.”

Besides her keynote speech Monday, Harris-Lacewell gave the sermon during Sunday evening’s service. The associate professor of politics and African-American studies at Princeton University used the sweet, lovable Edwina, who befriended everyone and baked the best chocolate chip cookies, as a metaphor to represent the strength and conviction of African-American women and anyone else who was ever told their beliefs don’t matter.

Edwina’s mere existence throughout the book was constantly challenged by the literal-minded class know-it-all, Reginald Von Hoobie-Doobie, who preaches about the fact that she shouldn’t even be around to bake cookies, and even posts flyers up around town in an effort to wound her spirit.

“Dinosaurs are extinct. Democracy is dead. And there is no benevolent spirit of life that hears our prayers,” Harris-Lacewell repeated after every negative story and statistic that highlighted the plight of the less fortunate.

From the public flogging of a former female slave who rose to own land and find success in the Confederate South to the 6 million Jews slaughtered during Hitler’s Final Solution to the thousands of poor blacks left to battle Hurricane Katrina and her devastating aftermath, people still believed that better days were coming and refused to give up hope or sacrifice their beliefs. Like Edwina’s nemesis, Reginald, the world kept telling them that they should just pack it in, give up and go home. And like Edwina, those with the least to gain were so often the ones with the most to give when it came to hope, Harris-Lacewell noted.

“These African-American women kept discovering that for all of the evidence and truth that God did not love them … they continued to believe that God loved them none the less,” Harris-Lacewell said, highlighting the daunting statistics regarding everything from single mothers to sexual assault to incarceration to HIV facing female African-Americans.

Through it all African-American women and entire ethnic and cultural groups persevered to meet the challenges before them. Harris-Lacewell urged the crowd at Sunday’s service to never forget past injustices, but to look past today’s physical realities toward something more, especially in light of the nation inaugurating its first African-American president on Tuesday.

“Edwina bakes us cookies; there is evidence everywhere. We cannot rely only on our rationality. We need to believe that something greater is possible,” Harris-Lacewell told the crowd, adding with a smile that “cookies help.”

Inaugurating Change: Where Do We Go From Here?

Where: Bates College Campus, Lewiston

When: Monday, Jan. 19, daylong event starting at 9 a.m.

Highlights: 9:15 a.m.: Dr. Benjamin Elijah Mays Speech Invitational, Benjamin Mays Center, featuring student speakers from the Bates College Debate Team, Morehouse College Speech Team and local high school debate teams.

10:30 a.m.-noon: MLK Day Keynote Presentation, Olin Concert Hall, featuring Melissa Harris-Lacewell, associate professor of politics and African-American Studies at Princeton University, speaking on “The Relevance of Dr. King in the Age of Obama.”

1:20-5:15 p.m.: Workshops addressing civil rights issues, including affirmative action, gay rights, workers rights, diversity and social change.

7:30 p.m. Evening Program, Olin Concert Hall, featuring cultural works by Bates College students and guests in dance, theater, spoken-word and music.

Cost: Free