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MLK event pays tribute to civil rights leader
The legacy of civil rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. continued to live on during a yearly event held in his memory.
People packed into the Elk's Lodge in Mountain Home on Saturday during this year's Martin Luther King Jr. Prayer Breakfast.
Hosted by the Mountain Home Community Black History Committee, the two-hour celebration honored the life, accomplishments and dream of the noted civil rights leader. Noting King's words that "we always have today to work toward a better tomorrow," this year's banquet encouraged people here and across the United States to make today "a day on" versus a day off.
Deacon Maurice Townsend from the First Congregational Church in Mountain Home served as the day's master of ceremony.
As part of the morning's program, six local ministers, pastors and priests stepped forward to offer prayers. Each prayer focused on fostering unity and peace with additional prayers offered on behalf of families, churches and the nation as a whole.
The celebration comes just six months before the nation celebrates the 50th anniversary of the signing of the Civil Rights Act. President Lyndon Johnson signed the bill into law on July 2, 1964.
While King's words have transcended the test of time, it's growing more difficult to raise awareness with today's youth, according to Col. Michael Lawrence, who served as this year's guest speaker. The colonel commands the 366th Maintenance Group at Mountain Home Air Force Base.
The farther the nation moves away from the years prior to the march for equality for all people, the easier it gets for people today to forget those sacrifices, Lawrence warned.
Today, the civil rights era is something children read in history books, the colonel said. Since today's generation doesn't face racial injustice and discrimination every day, it's not easy for them to fully fathom the struggles and challenges King and other civil rights leaders faced.
No one wants to relieve the civil rights era, but there's also a risk of people forgetting those lessons, the colonel emphasized. King and the other civil rights leaders sacrificed so much to give all people the freedoms they cherish today, including the freedom of speech and the freedom to vote.
Lawrence contends that the challenges children face today are nothing compared to the challenges the leaders of the civil rights movement faced in their quest to bring equality to all people. These individuals fought prejudice and discrimination every single day simply because of the color of their skin.
The question today becomes how can all Americans can come together to make their communities and the nation a better place.
"We always have today to work toward a better tomorrow," said Lawrence, quoting the words of the civil rights leader.
The colonel then urged those in the audience to find their purpose in life and to live to the best of their abilities. And when the doors of opportunity come knocking, people need to be ready to answer.
The face of America is changing, and people need to "run faster" if they hope to be part of something greater than themselves, he said. After all, anyone who falls behind in a race will always trail everyone else unless they commit themselves to running faster than the person in front of them.
"Ordinary people must do extraordinary things," Lawrence added.
"Good enough simply isn't good enough if people expect to make a positive difference in this world," he said. "If we run, then others will follow."
This year's celebration concluded by a benediction by Daniel Pomerlee, overseer of Love Abiding Christian Church.
Saturday's prayer breakfast was one in a series of observances held in conjunction with the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. holiday. On Monday, the Idaho Human Rights Commission hosted a human right day observance in the state capitol rotunda.