Saturday's Internet Edition, May 17, 2008.
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The breakfast was sponsored by Theta Eta Zeta Chapter of Zeta Phi Beta Sorority Inc. It was just one of the many events held in a nine-day Martin Luther King Jr. Holiday Celebration presented by the Martin Luther King, Jr. Social Action Committee Inc.
In attendance were many local pastors and elected city officials, includeding: the Rev. Leroy Kelly, Christ Temple Church of Winston-Salem; the Rev. Faye Herbin, Central United Methodist Church; the Rev. Van Johnson, Union Baptist Church; Mayor Joe Bennett; City Council members Scott Styers and Raleigh York Jr., and former City Councilman Dwight Cornelison. It was Cornelison’s eighth year of speaking at the annual breakfast.
“God spoke to Dr. King through the biblical message,” Cornelison said. “Dr. King had a way of taking that biblical message and saying it in a manner we could understand and touched our hearts. He became the moral voice in our country in the short time he was here.”
Bennett, who delivered greetings from the City of Thomasville, acknowledged the importance of the national holiday.
“What a beautiful day to be here at Central United Methodist Church to begin the morning of honoring the life of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.,” the mayor said. “The week in Thomasville has been full of services and a great week of celebrations. The thing about it is, it doesn’t just go for one week. We go through with the other 51 weeks and carry out the dreams he had.”
In Styers’ speech, he talked talked about attending Thomasville City Schools in the days of integration and concluded with a powerful message.
“I would like to make a pledge,” he said. “That we will continue to work hard to remember Dr. King’s message that a person will not be measured by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character.”
Dr. Grenita Lathan, principal of Washington Elementary School in Greensboro, was the featured speaker. An Asheville native, the 16-year educator received a standing ovation after her speech, which presented solutions on keeping Dr. King’s dream alive.
“When we think about Dr. King, we should look for the ways to incorporate the principles that he stood for into our daily lives,” she said. “As our nation faces challenges, we must look that good doesn’t come out of evil.”
Also in attendance was Matthew Lewis — the Thomasville resident and Pulitzer Prize winning photographer who captured pictures of King just six weeks before his assassination. After the breakfast, Lewis expressed how some moments of the service brought tears to his eyes. The former Washington Post and Thomasville Times photographer had taken pictures of King a few times.
“[Martin Luther King] was speaking and I never forgot it,” Lewis recalls. “I was there when he gave his famous ‘I Have a Dream speech.’ It was so powerful.”
Staff Writer Darrick Ignasiak can be reached at 472-9500, ext. 231, or ignasiak@tvilletimes.com