Before the MLK Breakfast ceremony at St. Mary’s College Michael Steele (R) talks to Sen. Steve Waugh and Jaymi Sterling.
St. Mary’s City, MD — The birthday of Dr. Martin Luther King, a national holiday, was celebrated in Southern Maryland and around the country Monday, Jan. 19. King’s 86th birthday would have been this Thursday. This year also marks the 50th anniversary of the three marches in Selma, Alabama for voting rights and the subsequent passage of the Voting Rights Act later that year. The events are memorialized in the new movie “Selma,” now playing in theaters.
Selma and voting rights were on the minds of several speakers at the 11th annual Southern Maryland Martin Luther King, Jr. Prayer Breakfast at St. Mary’s College. Rep. Steny Hoyer has participated in a number of the ceremonial anniversary marches at the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, marching alongside his friend and colleague, Rep. John Lewis (D- GA) who led the marches 50 years ago. This past weekend the cast and crew members of the movie also participated in a ceremonial march on the bridge.
“He was sent to us to make us a better country and he did,” Rep. Hoyer said. “We are not yet a perfect country and we will never be. This day is about striving to be a better country.”
Hoyer said that the Supreme Court weakened the Voting Rights Act of 1965 in an action on June 25, 2013. He said he and other legislators are working to restore those lost rights in a bipartisan bill. “This is about an inherent right of every American,” Hoyer opined.
Hoyer urged the audience “to keep going. Martin Luther King would tell us we must keep going.”
Guest speaker for the breakfast was former Republican Lieutenant Governor of Maryland Michael Steele. He remembered being sworn in just a short distance away from where Kunta Kinte (of Roots) was brought into Annapolis harbor as a slave. Steele said that moment for him was made possible by Dr. King. Steele said King opened the door and turned on the light that gave opportunities to him and many others.
“Dr. King opened a new chapter that we are still writing today,” Steele observed. But he added that the country really isn’t in a “Post-Civil-Rights Generation” when a young black man walking home from a convenience store can be seen as a threat. “This is not the dream of Dr. King and those who stood and marched and died with him,” he said.
Steele was born on Andrews Air Force Base and since his time in public office has run a consulting firm and been a TV analyst, most recently on “Meet the Press” the day before. Steele said his mother kept a picture of Dr. King in their house and when Dr. King was assassinated the 10-year-old boy was told by his mother, “A friend of the family has died.”
The former lieutenant governor under Gov. Ehrlich said he believed Dr. King’s most endearing quality was his perseverance. He said that perseverance “allowed him to achieve his dream…a dream that created a legacy for future generations.”
Steele, in opening remarks noted the presence in the audience of Gov.-Elect Larry Hogan’s daughter Jaymi Sterling. Steele said to Sterling: “Just tell him ‘don’t screw it up’.”
Steele was introduced by St. Mary’s College Black Student Union President Demara Austin.
Opening and concluding remarks were delivered by St. Mary’s College President Dr. Tuajuanda Jordan. She said Dr. King’s message of “respect and tolerance” is being tested today. “It makes you wonder how many more rivers we have to cross to reach the dream of freedom and justice for all,” the new president said.
President of the St. Mary’s County Branch of the NAACP Andrea Bowman told the audience, “Today we are confronted with so much hatred and violence. She said Dr. King would have said, “Together we can turn this around.”
The audience that packed the J. Frank Raley Great Hall at the college was treated to performances by the First Missionary Baptist Youth Choir and the always popular Spring Ridge Middle School Rhythm Club. Jeremy Hunter read an excerpt from one of Dr. King’s speeches and Brittnee Ross sang a rousing rendition of “Amazing Grace.”
Pastor Rodney Thompson of To Tell the Truth Ministries of Lexington Park delivered the Invocation and Benediction.
In closing the event Dr. Jordan said, “I am ready to go out and continue to make changes for the better.”
The annual event is sponsored by St. Mary’s College, St. Mary’s County Human Relations Commission, St. Mary’s County Public Schools and the College of Southern Maryland.
Contact Dick Myers at news@thebaynet.com