Community event set for Martin Luther King Jr. Day
This year marks 50th anniversary of Poor People’s Campaign
TROY, N.Y. » For a second straight year, Team Helping Everyone Recognize Opportunity will host a special free community event on Martin Luther King Jr., Day at the Troy Boys & Girls Club.
From 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. Monday, Team Hero will host a community event that touches on King’s Poor People’s Campaign. Some guest speakers will include representatives from Start Center and Unity House.
“Last year, we kind of spoke on positive policing in our community and we were able to then bring in a panel discussion with some of our police officers and talk about ways to keep things positive between the police and the community,” explained Jerry Ford, one of the leaders of Team HERO, which operates through the Troy Boys & Girls Club. “This year we’re doing something a little bit different, this year marks the 50th anniversary that Dr. King launched his last initiative which was the Poor People’s Campaign.”
Ford said that they wanted to focus on King’s last initiative this year because they want to inform anyone in attendance on Monday of what King stood for during his time.
“We kind of wanted to pick up on that a little bit and just talk about things that he wanted to focus on,” said Ford. “This is what he focused on right before his death and there are some relevant and important issues [in his campaign], he talked about the spreading of economic wealth for all people and better jobs and better housing and we wanted to pick that up because we do see these same issues 50 years later still effecting our communities. We wanted to be that voice and bring awareness to these issues that are still around 50 years later.”
Ford said not only will anyone in attendance be able to hear and learn valuable information related to King’s last campaign, but they will also be able to enjoy food and refreshments while there.
“We have a very nice display of information in regards to Dr. King and his Poor People’s Campaign and we also have some information on how to tackle issues in the community, in which we’re going to display things that Team HERO has addressed in our five years of existence,” said Ford.
Another unique tie in involves community engagement related to the recent tragic deaths in the community of Shanta Myers and her young children, Jeremiah and Shanise — all victims
in a brutal Dec. 21 murder in Troy. A fourth person, Brandi Mells, Shanta Myers’s partner, was also killed during the attack in their basement apartment on 158 2nd St.
11-year-old Jeremiah was an active member at the Troy Boys & Girls Club.
“There will be a tie and that’s going to tie into the part about community engagement and being an active community member,” said Ford. “We’re going to instruct our community in how to address issues in the community in a proper and positive way. When this tragedy hit our city, we were
able to mobilize and bring together all of the right people so that we could address
that and be a voice in the community, so we will address that also.”