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January 20, 2005
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January 20, 2005 |
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Villagers hold King Day in ‘hearts and minds’ The more than 200 Yellow Springers who attended Monday’s observance of Martin Luther King Jr.’s birthday had at least one thing in common: all were decked out in hats, gloves and boots as they braved the single-digit cold to march through downtown and attend a program at Central Chapel AME Church. But besides that, the group was as diverse as the village, including children and parents, students and elders, African-Americans, Asian-Americans and Caucasians, united as well by the desire to honor the slain civil rights leader. Organizers of the event were the AACW and Central Chapel, with help from Antioch College students and community members. The event also included a peace march, which traveled from Mills Lawn School through downtown to Central Chapel, a lunch, and free health screenings by the New Minority Male Health Project at Wilberforce University. Rev. Dr. John Freeman, the pastor of Central Chapel, opened the program by challenging attendees to carry King’s message of racial equality with them throughout the year. “Many times I ask myself, does everyone understand what we’re doing and why, or is it just an annual thing and then back to business as usual,” he said. Rather, Freeman said, “Martin Luther King Day must be in the hearts and minds of people every day we walk on this planet called earth.” New to this year’s event were accounts by two villagers who had participated in some of the civil rights movement’s seminal events. Willa Dallas recalled taking part in the march from Selma, Ala., to Montgomery, Ala., in 1965, and Willie McCray talked about meeting King in Alabama, Georgia and Mississippi.
Adding young people’s perspectives were McKinney School students Amelia Shaw and Olivia Chen, who won first and second, respectively, in a student essay contest. Shaw, who read her essay, talked about obstacles that keep people from helping others, such as human beings’ resistance to truly seeing another’s pain. “I keep on walking and push the feelings away,” she read from her essay. “I tell myself that the person is fine, or that someone else will help.” Everyone can contribute to social change by taking small, kind actions, Chen wrote in her essay, which was read by her friend Tenia Scarver. “Unlike Oprah, I can’t help masses of people,” she wrote, “But if I can help someone every day by saying hello, and if everyone does this, the whole world will be better off.” The Progressive Revelation, a group of Bahá’í young people, performed a dance about religious unity, and poet John Booth played drums and recited a poem he wrote for the occasion. “I have a dream that one day my daughter will say, ‘Daddy, I don’t quite understand, what is racism?’ ” recited Booth, who also hoped that one day his granddaughter “will ask me, ‘Grandpa, what is war?’ ” “Dreams become reality only if you believe,” Booth said. “I hope that my dream is your dream.” The audience also heard a recitation of King’s “I Have a Dream” speech by actor Gary Pritchett, who received a standing ovation. The event ended with audience members singing “Walking up the King’s Highway,” then joining hands for the final song, “We Shall Overcome.”
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