RICHMOND —
A program commemorating the life of civil rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. conducted Monday night at First Baptist Church, Francis Street, stressed that King’s dream of unity for all Americans did not end when he was slain by an assassin’s bullet on the balcony of a Memphis hotel room on April 4, 1968.
The program, “Advancing the Dream through Opportunities: Progress in Madison County,” was co-sponsored by the Richmond-Madison County Branch of the NAACP and the Richmond Human Rights Commission.
Student speakers from the Madison County Schools’ African-American Male Mentoring Program said Monday’s holiday honoring King was a day to remember his dream and never forget that he fought for equality for all people through peace, but more importantly that he fought for it through faith.
The holiday, the young men said, should symbolize America’s commitment to peace and unity through non-violence.
King was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1964 and stressed change through non-violent means, although he and many blacks in the 1960s often were subjected to violent retaliation in their quest for equality.
That search for equality has not ended, said Sandra Powell, chair of the Richmond Human Rights Commission.
“Talking about human rights is the hardest thing I’ve ever done. It’s not popular,” Powell said.
“We want human rights for all, even if it’s people we don’t understand. But, we just have to fight for it,” she said.
Powell also told audience members to be kind to those who not only are different, but also “whom we don’t like.”
“Equal rights for all of us, not just some of us. It’s a great opportunity to change things for the better,” she said.
A presentation about changing a life misled was made by Britten Andrews and Cameron Famer of the Culinary Arts Program of the Bluegrass Regional Recycling Program.
Famer spoke of the years he spent in prison and how through hope, and the culinary arts program, he had been able to turn his life around and was now headed toward a bright future.
Youth members of the mentoring program also read a speech delivered to the citizens of the United States by U.S. Sen. Robert F. Kennedy, who was assassinated two months after King.
The young men recited Kennedy’s words, “What we need in the United States is not division; what we need in the United States is not hatred; what we need in the United States is not violence or lawlessness; but love and wisdom, and compassion toward one another, and a feeling of justice toward those who still suffer within our country, whether they be white or they be black.”
Emily Burton may be contacted at eburton@richmondregister.com or 624-6694.
Local News
Related Photos
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Kurstin Jones, a Berea College junior from Cincinnati, lights a candle each time the name of a human rights leader is called out during a midday ceremony in the college’s cafeteria as part of Berea’s observance of Martin Luther King Jr. Day. Bill Robinson
Advancing the dream
Program encourages remembrance and community action
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