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Martin Luther King breakfast draws large crowd
The Rev. Roger J. Ford challenged his audience "to talk about some
things that need to be talked about" as he addressed the nearly 200
local residents who gathered for the annual Martin Luther King Day
breakfast held at The Prizery on Monday morning.
"We need to spend more time finding out what's going on," Ford said
adding that "knowledge is power." He urged his listeners to think
how
Dr. King, whose famous speech of 'I have a dream' called for
equality
and justice for all people, would evaluate the progress that has
been
made in race relations today. Part of the failure to achieve that
dream, he said, could be laid to members of the black community
themselves and partly to the powers that be. He also blamed the
media
for not giving African-Americans "a fair shake."
"If we want to carry out that dream, we have to participate and be
proud of who we are. We are God's children and God deals with us
equally."
Dr. King, he said, "was active — he planted he seeds, but we still
need
to carry on the fight." Citing low attendance at monthly public
meetings such as those of the school board, Rev. Ford said 'we've
got
to be there to make a difference. We, too, have to stand up and be
counted.
"Black folks are the strongest folk in the world. Nobody has gone
through as much as black folks who survived slavery. Keep the faith
and
keep marching on. Love one another, tell the truth, participate and
don't be selfish," he advised.
The event which was a fund-raiser for the L. C. Coleman African
American Museum was led by the Rev. Jesse Moore, Master of
Ceremonies
who also poined to the issue of Sunday morning segregation, saying
that is a time that black folks all go to their respective churches
for
worship and whites go to theirs. "That's something I plan to do
something about during the coming year as I plan to visit some white
churches," he said.
There was a special solo by the Rev. Harry Williams and a special
poem
presented by Virginia Hightower.
Mrs. Arlene Dailey, who serves as Treasurer of the Museum, was
presented with a special recognition for all her work at the museum
which is located in the former Mountain Road School building on
State
Route 360, just west of the Town of Halifax.