MLK Day in Dayton, 2009

Today peo­ple from Day­ton and the sur­round­ing area came together to cel­e­brate the life of Dr. Mar­tin Luther King Jr.  There were prayer break­fasts, marches, din­ners, and other fes­tiv­i­ties — all of which capped a week of com­mem­o­rat­ing the life of Dr. King.

I had the plea­sure of help­ing to orga­nize the South Day­ton march — which started at the Mont­gomery County Fair­grounds and headed north on Main Street to Cour­t­house Square.   There are 4 marches in total, one from each direc­tion.   I was joined by employ­ees from Miami Val­ley Hos­pi­tal, Ket­ter­ing Med­ical Cen­ter, and cit­i­zens from all across the south­ern part of Day­ton.  The expe­ri­ence was great.  I met a wide vari­ety of won­der­ful peo­ple, and I expe­ri­enced a feel­ing of broth­er­hood, unity, and hope as we marched toward down­town Day­ton.  In addi­tion to those won­der­ful feel­ings, I expe­ri­enced a feel­ing of… COLD.  It was very chilly.

Once down­town, the event quickly came together.  Ken­nan Oliphant from WDTN served as emcee.  He, and every­one else, were great. There were choirs, speeches, singing, and cheer­ing.  There were sev­eral men­tions of the pend­ing inau­gu­ra­tion of Pres­i­dent Obama — sym­bolic of the real­iza­tion of “The Dream.”  That dream is truly just begin­ing to become real­ity.  We have come a long way, but must not for­get that there is a long way yet to go.  Today reminded me that it is the job of each and every one of us to uphold Dr. King’s vision through our thoughts, words, and daily actions.  It gave me hope that we have the power to make dreams into real­ity.  Tomor­row will bear wit­ness that that fact.   “YES WE CAN!”

I shot some quick clips of the event and pieced them together to share it with you.   If you were there, you know how great it was.  If you were not, I hope you will come out next year to celebrate.

YouTube — mlk dayton