Mount Beulah Missionary Baptist Church held its 36th annual Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Birthday Program in mid-January.
This year’s program was entitled “Remember! Celebrate! Act! A Day On…Not A Day Off!”
The date and the title were so befitting as the life of Dr. King was remembered and celebrated on his actual birthday while the audience was encouraged to act on behalf of its people, community, state, and nation.
As Mrs. Bettye Sims-Hawkins, the master of ceremonies, quoted Dr. King with “Don’t let anybody make you feel like nobody,” The Honorable Tyree Irving, the guest speaker, left us with some words that were sure to get our minds and hearts set on the right track.
He said, “Nobody is going to free us from where we are; we have to free ourselves.”
In other words, we must do what we want, and stop expecting someone else to come in and do. We must take charge, support each other, and teach our youth their history and the importance of voting.
The audience was welcomed by Mayor Ken Featherstone, who stated, “We have guided missiles and misguided men.”
Missiles are controlled and guided to where they are needed to go, but the control of those missiles are in the hands of misguided men, men (and women) with the wrong intentions; the only way the right people get control is through unity and love.
This year’s program was dedicated to the late Mrs. Cora Flemming, the late Mr. Estell King, and Mr. Charles Modley.
All three recipients have made amazing contributions to the lives of African Americans during (and after) the time of discrimination.
Finally, Indiana Norfleet provided melodious praise while Gentry High School’s Drama Group, Lillie Hamilton, and Helen Sims provided powerful skits and dance, poems, and an old story about Dr. King. When I asked Foster King, the chairman of the program, why was the program given its title, he answered, “To keep hope alive; to help people remember where we’ve come from while letting them know we still have a ways to go.”
Irving’s message was heartfelt, honest, and inspiring. One of the most memorable sayings he left the audience with was, “I can never hear what you say for seeing what you do.” In short, actions speak louder than words. Where we are now, we cannot simply talk the talk; we must walk the walk. We must take charge, be, and do what it takes to push forward successfully, to see the difference in our community, and to be the difference for our children. We must teach our children their history as we take that history into account ourselves. As Helen Sims stated in her story, “Those who do not learn (or cannot remember) the past are doomed to repeat it.”
