BLOOMINGTON - Award-winning journalist Roland Martin told a Soul Food Dinner audience Sunday night to use "the power of one" to make a difference.

"Do you know what just four students at the University of North Carolina did in the '60s?" Martin asked.

"They sat in a lunch counter in a drug store where no blacks were permitted," he said. "They didn't wait for a committee to be formed or try to organize a large group to protest.They simply exercised their individual power and took action on there own," he said.

"This is an example of the power of one, and it should be applied to every aspect of your life," said Martin, a CNN commentator and talk show host on WVON radio in Chicago. He previously served as the managing editor of the Chicago Defender.

In the midst of an election year, even one which is hotly contested, many people, especially students, decide not to vote, thinking that their vote won't make a difference, Martin said.

But Martin cited several examples where a few thousand votes out of millions cast have swung elections. Yet many people didn't bother to vote.

"Just a few people, making an individual decision to vote, when added together, do make a difference," he said.

"You must pay attention to the people who are running for office at every level, because, though you may not realize it, they will have an effect on every aspect of your life, such as how much funding the college you attend may receive," he said.

"This year we have a unique set of candidates running for office representing different constituencies. [Barack] Obama represents the Afican-American community, Hillary Clinton, women, and John McCain, the 70 years and over group, " he said, joking.

Students with low political expectactions of the candidates aren't necessarily following the example set forth in other countries.

He said students will stand line line for hours to get concert tickets or buy a pair of Nike's on sale, but will leave a voting line if they have to wait 15 minutes.

He pointed out that South Africans, in some cases, stood in line two-and-a-half days to vote for Nelson Mandela, a few even dying in the process.

Past speakers

Soul Food Dinner speakers have included Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Martin Luther King III, and, last year, activist Angela Davis.

The dinner menu included fried and jerk chicken, candied yams, collard greens, corn bread muffins and peach cobbler.

Martin has received more than 20 awards, including the Edward R. Murrow award from the Radio and Television News Directors. He has authored several books, including "Listening to the Spirit Within: 50 Perspectives on Faith" and "Speak, Brother! A Black Man's View of America."