MLK day: Breakfast kicks off celebration

Tthe 24 annual Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Holiday celebration breakfast was held at the Event Center on the Cornerstone Church Campus. Photo by Jon C. Lakey, Salisbury Post.

West Rowan High students Darius Rucker and Tommie Estes lead the gathered in the National Anthem at the 24 annual Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Holiday celebration breakfast. Photo by Jon C. Lakey, Salisbury Post.

The Community Choir under the direction of Dr. Phillip Burgess perform at the 24 annual Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Holiday celebration breakfast. Photo by Jon C. Lakey, Salisbury Post.

Dr. George B. Jackson, Pastor and CEO of Citadel of Faith Christian Fellowship inc. in Thomasville was the speaker at the 24 annual Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Holiday celebration breakfast. Photo by Jon C. Lakey, Salisbury Post.

By Shavonne Potts

spotts@salisburypost.com

"When I say unity, you say works. Unity...works...unity ...works." It was a chant heard early Monday morning by Elder Timothy Bates, master of ceremonies for the 24th annual Martin Luther King Jr. Celebration.

Bates rallied the crowd, members of which gathered inside The Event Center, on the campus of Cornerstone Church, by chanting the theme of this year's celebration. About 600 people gathered Monday for the annual Humanitarian Breakfast, which was held for the second year at The Event Center.

Bates would repeat that same chant at activities later in the day.

Bates is the pastor of two Statesville-area churches, Cameron Presbyterian Church and Calvary Presbyterian.

"It's a pleasure that God's people are all in the same room and are all on the same team," he said.

Wilson Lopez, chair of the Salisbury Rowan Human Relations Council, asked audience members to remember King's efforts to unify people of all walks of life. Members of the group and its volunteers headed the day's events.

"As a nation we have accomplished a lot in unity. After all, we are the United States of America," Lopez said.

Eric Watson, vice president of diversity and inclusion for Food Lion, said unity was something that is often talked about at Food Lion.

"Unity is what you do after you leave. Unity is the basis on which diversity is able to live and grow," Watson said.

He quoted King by saying, "If we don't live together as brothers and sisters, we will perish as fools."

Food Lion was a major sponsor of the breakfast and other activities throughout the day.

Salisbury Mayor Susan Kluttz spoke of how wonderful it was to see the Community Choir perform. The choir is made up of more than 60 singers from local churches. Members have been performing together for about 10 years. The choir, which doesn't have an official name, performs at various community events throughout the year.

Kluttz said the first time she heard the choir perform at her church, St. Luke's Episcopal, she was overcome with emotion.

She spoke to her minister, the Rev. Whayne Hougland Jr., about the performance and he put her feelings into words about the performance.

"He said, 'That's what heaven looks like,' " Kluttz said.

It was representative of the diverse group of people singing.

"As I look out at the sea of faces once again, I see heaven," Kluttz said of the audience.

Guest speaker Dr. George Jackson, pastor and CEO of Citadel of Faith Christian Fellowship Inc. in Thomasville spoke about declaring a war on poverty.

"After countless social programs, wars in Vietnam, Afghanistan and Iraq, we still cannot find the silver bullet to kill poverty," he said.

Jackson quoted a passage of scripture, John 12:8, where Jesus said "you will always have the poor among you, but you will not always have me."

These words, Jackson told the audience, were used by Jesus, who was at the home of his friend Lazarus.

He said those words to "cut the tension in the air," because Mary, Lazarus' sister, used perfumed oil to anoint Jesus' feet, Jackson said.

Jesus defended the woman's actions by saying he would not always be there, but the poor would. Jesus would days later be crucified on a cross.

Jackson said Dr. King died on the battlefield fighting poverty with sanitation workers in Memphis where he was scheduled to leave in order to lead a mass march in Washington, D.C.

If people really want to honor King, Jackson said, "We must lift up the banner that fell from his hands on April 4, 1968, and continue to fight the forgotten war on poverty."

John Brindle, Rowan County register of deeds, attended the breakfast and the Humanitarian Awards the evening before at Mount Zion Missionary Baptist Church.

"I enjoyed seeing people in the county really come together. It shows what we need to be doing on a day-to-day basis and not just one time a year," he said.

Shay Steele, 15, attended the event as a youth volunteer. About 40 young people volunteered for the day's activities including helping set tables and serve at the breakfast.

"I thought it was touching to celebrate the memory of Martin Luther King Jr. and to keep his dream alive," Steele said.

Darius Rucker and Tommie Estes, both students at West Rowan High, volunteered to help. The teens, both 17, led the audience in singing the national anthem during the breakfast and were scheduled to perform later during the activities at the Salisbury Civic Center.

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Salisbury Post intern Lakein Simpson contributed to this story.