The Senior Companion Volunteers of Sunflower-Humphreys Counties Progress, Inc., in conjunction with the 8th grade classes of R.L. Merritt Junior High School, held its "I Am Martin” Program on Thursday.
Several community leaders addressed the students, in addition to history instructor Michael Randle who reminded the scholars of their legacy and asserted that they have a rich heritage. Randle told his students that he plans to do an in-depth study of some of the local civil rights heroes so they will be made aware of them.
Moorhead Mayor George Holland, one of the invited guests, urged the students to be “community builders” and not persons who tear their communities down. Citizen Robert Martin, a young adult and a recent graduate, encouraged the young people to become registered voters. “Vote, be a part of something special,” he said.
The special guest speaker, the Reverend Herron Wilson, asserted that the students are entrusted with a “seed of greatness,” the same seed that was planted in Martin Luther King, he said. And as such, Wilson said it didn’t matter where they were born or what their circumstances were, “The seed of greatness is inside of you.”
He told the students that like King, they have a purpose because there is something they can do to make the world a better place to live.
He initiated his talk by reciting a poem that characterized the students’ capability to ascend to great heights with the right system of support. “With hope, with faith, with prayer, with parents, with educators, with community leaders, I think, no, I know you can rise,” he said.
His discourse was followed by a brief question and answer session. The local NAACP chapter president, Charles Modley, along with Holland and some of the senior companions fielded questions from the students regarding King and the civil rights movement.
The program was designed to honor the memory of and services provided by the late civil rights pioneer.
