Speaker says there is still work to be done

While Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s dream and leadership built a foundation of racial integration and inclusion, Dr. Lonnie Ray Williams said this platform of benefits still need to reach future generations.

“Thanks to Dr. King, we now no longer have to enter businesses through the back door to buy what we need, children of all races can now go to the same schools and Barack Obama became the first black president,” Williams, who spoke Monday at a local commemorative service honoring Dr. King, said.

“We can now say that we have overcome racial discrimination and segregation, but it’s also been said that the real cause of man’s problem now isn’t a lack of education and knowledge, but rather an apathy toward, as well as a neglection of and even a rejection of education and knowledge in general.”

Williams, who currently serves as the associate vice chancellor for student affairs at Arkansas State University in Jonesboro, said that of all of today’s fourth-grade children, only 31 percent are reading at a fourth-grade level. He also said that of today’s high school

to promote who we are. And we ought to tell that louder than anybody else. We’ve got to learn to aid each other, not pull each other down.”

He went on to say they owed it to Dr. King and future generations to keep moving forward and demanding change that will help them get close to reaching the dream.

“A vision of justice and equality for all Americans,” he said. “It’s not just about us, it’s about everybody because if we leave anybody behind, we have not reached the dream that Dr. King spoke about.”

Taylor, who has spent 32 years in education, said it is the key to life success for everyone.

“Educational opportunity can help overcome the obstacles that face us in our community,” he said. “One of the greatest obstacles that faces us in our community is a quality education. We’ve got to learn education is the key to moving us where we need to be.”

Bobbie Player also spoke during Monday’s event, and said many AfricanAmericans were able to live out the dream after the days when they weren’t able to use the same water fountains as people who were white.

“Many of us have been able to live out his dream by becoming successful because of the doors being opened that had once been shut in our faces,” she said. “Many of us can reminisce from the times that we had to go to the back doors, to even prepare the food for those who would not let us sit at the table with them.”

Player also said she hoped everyone was able to appreciate what they’ve accomplished and help others to reach their goals, as well.

“If we have not made it, hopefully we are thinking of staying on this journey until we do,” she said. “This occasion hopefully will enable us to think about those things we can do to lift the spirit of others, to encourage those who have thought as to what they can accomplish as we live out the dream of Dr. Martin Luther King, let us focus on the things which he has done. Not just because of the color of our skin, but because of the content of our character.”

The Zion District Youth Choir sang during the event, Traveion Taylor gave a dance performance and members of Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority led a candle lighting ceremony for King’s six principles of non-violence.

The next regular monthly meeting will be held at 10 a.m., Feb. 3 at Oak Street Baptist Church, 401 Waterall St., Texarkana, Texas.