A crowd assembled near the Emmett Till statue at Rail Spike Park on Monday to celebrate the life of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
The gathering featured opening remarks by Leflore County District 2 Supervisor Reginald Moore and speeches by Dr. Montrell Greene, pastor of Sycamore Street Church of Christ, and Moore’s mother, Lula Moore, a retired educator from the Leflore County and West Tallahatchie school districts and Mississippi Valley State University.
“We must never forget his sacrifice,” Reginald Moore said of Dr. King, who was shot and killed outside his Memphis hotel room in 1968.
“I am reminded of one quote: ‘We will live together and prosper, or we will die as fools,’” he said.
Greene built on the supervisor’s foundation, saying, “We need to learn to work together so we can push each other up even higher, to walk hand in hand so we can rise together.”
Monday was the national holiday set aside to commemorate King’s life and his impact on the civil rights movement.
People of a wide age range attended the event in Greenwood. Veda McDonald watched with her three daughters: Demaria, who is 15; Heaven, 4; and Ivy, 2.
McDonald said the gathering meant a lot to her because it gives her daughters the opportunity to see parts of history that they might not know or be taught in public schools.
“I want them to see and be able to teach their kids,” she said.
Levon Wright, 78, participated in the history McDonald wants her girls to know.
“I marched when Dr. King came, and I followed him all over, just about,” Wright said. “It’s good to see how far we’ve gotten and how far we’ve still got to come.”
Greene said King envisioned a better community and brighter tomorrow. “I thank God for Dr. King and the people who came before us, but we still need to be dreamers on today,” he said.
Shavunya Ivory-Griffin, who brought her 8-year-old son, Elias, said that celebrating King’s life and legacy meant everything to her because he “paved the way for black people to be able to vote, ride the bus.”
Pointing to her son, she said, “I want him to be able to know about history. I can teach him, but without him knowing, it means nothing. He needs to hear and see hands-on.”
Davis Williams, 14, said King’s message mattered to him because it taught him that all people are made equal and that segregation “means nothing” in determining the value of a person.
The event honoring King wrapped up with Lula Moore’s delivery of a King quote. \“How many of us are ready to do the right thing?” she asked the gathered crowd. “The right thing is to move against wrongness when we see it and hear it. ‘It’s always the right time to do the right thing,’” she quoted.
- Contact Katherine Parker at 662-581-7239 or kparker@gwcommonwealth.com.
