In just 10 days we will pause to honor the memory and legacy of Martin Luther King, Jr. We have been celebrating the birthday of Dr. King in our county for almost 40 years.
I organized the first Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Breakfast 38 years ago. I remember when the late Morris H. Blum, the Rev. Leroy Bowman, Bertina Nick, Lulu Hardesty, Alan Hilliard Legum, George PhelpsJr. , Jerome “Skinny Butch” Simms and Del. Aris T. Allen Sr. came to the first meeting. At that time King’s birthday was neither a state nor national holiday.
Over the years, we marched, demonstrated and petitioned the government to make his birthday a holiday. In 1974, the late Del. Kenneth L. Webster introduced the bill that made King’s birthday a state holiday. I will always remember the late U.S. Rep. Parren J. Mitchell urging members of the General Assembly to vote for the bill.
Maryland became only the second state in the nation to make King’s birthday a state holiday. The only Anne Arundel delegate to vote for the legislation was Allen. To their everlasting shame, no other member of the Anne Arundel County delegation voted for the bill.
We then joined with the late Coretta Scott King, Stevie Wonder, Dick Gregory and the Rev. Jesse Jackson to push for King’s birthday to become a national holiday. After many marches, demonstrations and prayers President Ronald Reagan signed a bill in 1983 that made his birthday a national holiday.
By 1988, the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial Breakfast could no longer handle the crowd and we added the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Awards Dinner. The dinner became the largest celebration of his birthday in the county.
Now, we have an annual Martin Luther King Jr. Parade, thanks in part to Priscilla Montague. Juniata Cage Lewis portrays Coretta Scott King in the parade and, of course, there are numerous church services held throughout the county in his memory.
Thanks to former County Executive Janet S. Owens, we have the only King memorial in Maryland located at Anne Arundel Community College.
King was one of those transforming figures whose impact on the world continues even after his death. Few public figures are able in death to evoke the emotional response that King has. I am so appreciative of this community, which has supported these events.
Beginning with a 5 p.m. reception at La Fontaine Bleue in Glen Burnie, we will honor 10 individuals who through their words, deeds and actions have kept alive King’s dream.
The individuals who are being honored are George “Lassie” Belt, Patricia Cole, M. Eve Hurwitz, Wandra Ashley Williams, Vivian Gist Spencer, Najiba Hlemi, Midshipman First Class Aaron J. Lewis, Alderman Marc Rodriguez, U.S. Rep. C.A. Dutch Ruppersberger and U.S. Rep. John P. Sarbanes.
In addition, Alanna Dennis, Compliance Officer for the County will award Annapolis High Schook senior Zion Green with a King scholarship she is funding.
To purchase tickets, visit mlkjrmd.org or call Arlene Jackson at 301-538-6353.
Tickets also can be purchased starting at 6 p.m. Tuesday at the Caucus of African-American Leaders monthly meeting at the Wiley H. Bates Legacy Center, 1101 Smithville St., Annapolis. The caucus will hear from representatives from County Executive Steuart Pittman’s Transition Team.
Whenever I think about King’s dream, I think about the late U.S. Sen. Ted Kennedy who captured eloquently the spirit of that dream, when he said: “For me, a few hours ago, this campaign came to an end. For all those whose cares have been our concern, the work goes on, the cause endures, the hope still lives, and the dream shall never die.”
A Luta Continua, which means in Portuguese, that the struggle continues and yes the dream shall never die.