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Reminder Assistant Editor SPRINGFIELD Many Americans know the phrase "I have a dream..." but in the year 2008, many do not realize that dream's true meaning or goals. Last Monday -- Martin Luther King Jr. Day -- area schoolchildren, teens and adults came together in Eastfield Mall to revisit Dr. King's dream and honor his memory. Bright sunlight filtered down on to a multiethnic crowd as the ceremony began with local police, ROTC and Boy Scout troop color guards displaying national and state flags. Arlene Putnam, vice-president and general manager of Eastfield Mall, welcomed all those in attendance and declared Dr. King "a great man and a great leader." A chorus of young students from the Martin Luther King Jr. Charter School of Excellence took the stage to perform a few select songs for the audience, including "Listen to Me," "Tomorrow," "Music is the Bridge" and their animated school song. Despite only coming together a few weeks ago, according to their teacher, the choir received a standing ovation for their talents. A number of local dignitaries were on hand for the celebration as well, including Mayor Domenic Sarno, City Councilors William Foley, James Ferrara, Bruce Stebbins, Kateri Walsh and Bud Williams, as well as Rep. Benjamin Swan. Sarno hailed Dr. King as "a great American" and said it was up to the city's children to carry on his message of equality. "If Dr. King were looking down on us now, he would not be happy with the violence of our young people," Sarno said. "We need to respect each other." Rep. Swan, who was born and raised in rural Mississippi during a time of major racial unrest, told those in attendance not to focus only on what Dr. King accomplished but on the entire movement he progressed. Carol Moore Cutting, president and general manager of WEIB 106.3 Smooth FM, grew up in rural Alabama and said she experienced racial injustice firsthand. "As Dr. King said, it's always the right time to do the right thing," she stated. Williams was happy to see a white and black Martin Luther King Jr. service, adding that today, because of his work, the nation has a legitimate woman contender running for president as well as a legitimate black man. "These people are proof you can be anything you want to be," Williams continued. The highlight of the morning's celebration, however, was the performance of three speeches from local high school students who won Sen. Edward W. Brooke III Oratorical Scholarship Contest awards. Named after the first African-American to be elected to the U.S. Senate, the awards were granted by the Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, a group founded by seven black men at Cornell University in 1906. The brotherhood boasts Dr. King and Supreme Court judge Thurgood Marshall as former members. Third place winner Cameron Jesse Cox, a senior at Central High School, delivered his speech first on the theme "The Status of the African-American Male: Crisis or Opportunity?" Cox addressed a crisis -- the fact that his generation is not finishing high school. "My senior class started with 800 and we are down to 390," he said. "We all know the consequences of that. Our brothers are on the street." He added that abolitionist Frederick Douglass dug the ground, Dr. King built the foundation and "now it's up to us to build that house, that mansion, that palace for our children." Charles Markham, a junior at Pioneer Valley Performing Arts High School in South Hadley, followed with his second place-winning speech discussing the current crisis. "We as young black men have more hurdles to jump ... How do you expect us not to be tired by the end of the race?" he asked. "We need someone to help us. Dialogue leads to action leads to change," he said, "so what's it going to be boxing gloves or handcuffs?" First place winner Samuel Jackson, a freshman from New Leadership Charter School, received an enthusiastic standing ovation when he concluded his speech. Jackson discussed the degrading history of the black man in America, including the fact that a certain racial slur is over 700 years old and is still being used as a slur today. "Thurgood Marshall, Martin Luther King and Langston Hughes made negroes into strong black men," he told the audience. "The scars of enslavement have left us violent and stupid. There's no way for us to get any lower than we are now. There is no place to go but up. "This crisis is in fact our opportunity and may be our only chance to prove to the world our competence," he said. "If we do this if we start today -- we can bring black America back." The executive director of the city's Martin Luther King Jr. Community Center, Dora D. Robinson, closed the morning's ceremonies by stating, "Martin Luther King brought life to the cause. We need to give ourselves a round of applause. Thank you for following this vision." Before the second half of the day's activities continued, all those in attendance joined hands to sing a chorus of "We Shall Overcome." | ||||||
