MLK Day activities

I started my day bright and early (actually, it wasn’t bright because it was foggy) by attending the Urban League of Hampton Roads’ 25th Annual MLK Community Leaders breakfast.  As one might expect, many of the folks that I normally see at this event weren’t there today. In addition,  the program was changed to have the speaker before breakfast because she  – the Reverend Dr. Suzan Johnson Cook – had to leave to get to DC. Nevertheless, she gave a brief, uplifting speech that had the audience on its feet at the end.

The host for this event is rotated amongst three colleges in the area: Norfolk State University, Old Dominion University and Tidewater Community College. The host this year was TCC and while all three colleges were represented, I must say that the remarks offered by Dr. Deborah M. DiCroce of TCC were, as usual, outstanding. (I hope to have a copy of them to post later.)

Amongst the attendees were LG candidate Jody Wagner, who I did not see, and gubernatorial candidate AG Bob McDonnell, with whom I got a few minutes to chat. He was in town to speak at another event in Chesapeake and decided to take this one in as well. (One thing McDonnel doesn’t lack is political instincts 🙂 ) As we ate breakfast, he made his way around the room, something he also did at the conclusion of the event.

This event had to have broken a record today: we actually finished up around 9:20am, making it possible to get back to Norfolk in time for the annual MLK march. Of course, I had to talk to folks so I didn’t quite get to Norfolk as early as I should have 😦

I arrived in Norfolk just a couple of minutes after 10am, by which time the remarks were over and the march had started. We left from Scope Plaza today, instead of the normal City Hall. There was a good sized crowd, many of whom were there for the first time. The march was led this year by members of the Norfolk 17, the students who integrated the Norfolk schools. According to the AP story, the march also included members of the Lost Class of 1959, and others who were involved in the dismantling of Massive Resistance.

After the march, the participants filed into Chrysler Hall for a program which was scheduled to include remarks by the Norfolk 17, the Lost Class as well as musical performances. I had to leave so I didn’t attend this part of the program.

I did run into someone outside Chrysler Hall: a person collecting signatures for Terry McAuliffe. Too bad there was no one out there for any of the other candidates.

All in all, a good way to spend part of this day in which we honor the memory of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Among the many MLK quotes I heard this morning was one which really stuck out for me and which I will be adding to my quotes page. It was one with which I was unfamiliar but which deserves being repeated over and over:

Right defeated is stronger than evil triumphant.

Yes, it is.

Here are a couple of old posts that you might find interesting on this day: MLK: Remaining Awake Through A Great Revolution and MLK Memorial Speech.