The Howard Thurman Center for Common Ground hosted a discussion Sunday evening about the black experience in the United States, including the lives and experiences of speakers Herman Hemingway, Walter Carrington and James Hoyte, who were contemporaries and fraternity brothers of BU alumnus Martin Luther King Jr.

Titled “Black in America Then and Now,” the discussion covered a timeline of the African-American struggle for civil rights from 1951 to the present. The conversation was organized by the Sigma Chapter of the Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity, the same chapter and organization that Carrington, Hemingway and Hoyte joined in 1951, 1952 and 1962, respectively.

Hemingway, the first black man to graduate from Brandeis University and a leader in the establishment of the Boston Housing Court, is King’s only currently living fraternity line brother.

When discussing his experiences with his first job in South Boston, Hemingway told the crowd of more than 50 about the lack of equal opportunities in career positions for people of color, and recalled his past efforts with leaders of labor unions who were willing to help him involve more people of color in city jobs.

“I found out that one way to deal with the issues of racism is to deal with those organizations that control the behaviors of the people who are in occupations,” Hemingway said. “They’re the ones who have the real power and the power to negotiate contracts.”

Hoyte, the founding chairman of the Posse Foundation and a brother in Alpha Phi Alpha, emphasized the importance of declaring rights in a society that he feels was and still is unequal.

“We have to be involved in asserting our rights, and civil rights really involves a recognition of an ongoing struggle,” Hoyte said.

Carrington, a former U.S. ambassador to Senegal and Nigeria, reflected on his relationship with King and their shared effort in civil rights reform.

“I got to talk to him quite a bit about what was going on in the South in terms of civil rights because I had been very active in civil rights,” Carrington said. “Martin was extremely helpful to me in terms of understanding more about what was going on in the South.”

Henoss Taddesse, a fourth-year student at Northeastern University and the president of the Boston-wide Sigma Chapter of Alpha Phi Alpha, said after the discussion that he enjoyed the speakers’ careful analysis of the history of civil rights and the country’s current political climate.

“The discussion was [an important] opportunity to learn from the past in order to move toward the future,” Taddesse said.

Taddesse added that he appreciates having the opportunity to engage in a historical discussion with men who have significantly contributed to civil rights reform and community empowerment.

“Knowing and recognizing this [and] having an opportunity to be with men who have done so many things for our community, have served as our ambassadors, have fought for our civil rights and have created educational pathways toward higher education … [was] very powerful,” Taddesse said.

Several students in attendance said they liked learning more about civil rights history from the perspectives of the speakers.

Nia Fears, a junior at Northeastern, said she was interested in learning more about the speakers’ relationships with King.

“I wanted to see exactly what they had to say in regard to Dr. Martin Luther King,” Fears said.“I wanted to see from a firsthand standpoint how amazing he was.”

Kolade Aderele, a sophomore in the Questrom School of Business, said he gained useful insight in dealing with obstacles.

“My biggest takeaway was [when Hemingway] said that the best way to tackle societal problems [was by working] through the system and [being] strategic,” Aderele said. “When you’re tackling something, you have to [approach it] with a plan.”

Nicole Barros, a sophomore in the Sargent College of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences, said she felt inspired by the call to action the speakers offered during the discussion.

“I liked a lot what they said about service and continuing that, as well as being a mentor to people who come behind us,” Barros said. “Just because we’ve made progress doesn’t mean that we should stop now.”