The first federal holiday honoring the life and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. occurred in 1986. Thirty years later, a large gathering of citizens met in front of the First United Methodist Church in Hermiston to pay tribute to the civil rights leader.
The annual event, put on by the Black International Awareness Club, began at noon with voices young and old singing Lift Every Voice and Sing as they began the commemorative march:
Lift every voice and sing
Till earth and heaven ring
Ring with the harmonies of Liberty;
Let our rejoicing rise,
High as the list’ning skies, let it resound loud as the rolling sea
Sing a song full of faith that the dark past has tought us,
Sing a song full of the hope that the present has brought us;
Facing the rising sun of our new day begun,
Let us march on till victory is won.
Twenty minutes later, they arrived at the steps of Hermiston City Hall where Karen Anderson led the crowd in the singing of the National Anthem. Hermiston City Councilor Clara Bea Fitzgerald and Hermiston City Manager Byron Smith shared their thoughts on what King’s legacy meant to them.
Smith urged the crowd to heed the words and deeds of King in their everyday lives.
“If we can think about the things he tried to accomplish during his life, we’ll make a better community for ourselves,” he said.
Fitzgerald said the legacy of King goes beyond equality for one group, but extends to all people.
“This is very special to me,” she said. “It signals we are always striving for freedom – not just for the black community, but for the entire community.”
Afterwards, the crowd gathered back at the Methodist Church for fellowship.
For those interested in taking a closer look at some of King’s most inspiring messages of peace and freedom, Northeast Oregon Now has included a few links. The first is his Letter from a Birmingham Jail from 1960, followed by his I Have a Dream Speech from 1963, and his Mountain Top speech delivered the night before his assassination in April 1968:
