MLK Day in Norfolk

Fun stuff, Local, Norfolk, Politics, Virginia 2 Minutes

As usual, I started my day at the Urban League’s 26th Annual Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Community Leaders’ Breakfast. This year’s host was Old Dominion University, one of three institutions of higher learning in the area – Norfolk State University and Tidewater Community College are the other two – who rotate hosting the event. Turnout appeared to be a little lower than usual, and included some of the local elected officials, although none, obviously, from the General Assembly.

Part of the problem – admittedly a good one to have – is there are so many events scheduled now to commemorate this occasion. I saw tweets from others in the area who were attending some of these.Ā  Perhaps they could be scheduled a little differently to allow some of us the ability to attend more of them.

The speaker today was the US Senate Chaplain, RADM (USN, Ret.) Barry Black. Speaking like the Baptist minister that he is, Black gave a brief talk on Dr. King, quoting from a number of his sermons.

The breakfast is also a time to present Community Leaders Awards. This year’s recipients were:

  • George C. Crowley, founder of the Hampton Roads Committee of 200+ Men, Inc.
  • Raymond L. Johnson, pastor of Calvary Revival Church-Peninsula
  • Ken D. Newman, community advocate in educational programs in the Berkley community
  • Virginia Beach City Public Schools Candid Conversations About Race Team

Shortly after the awards were presented, I headed downtown for Norfolk’s MLK March. A sizeable crowd gathered in the plaza at Scope. We marched from there down Brambleton Avenue to the MLK Memorial, which is located in the middle of the intersection of Brambleton and Church Street. When I went by, I saw that a wreath had been placed there. We turned on Church Street, then on Bute Street before heading back to the Scope plaza and into Chrysler Hall. A program of music and remembrance was scheduled, but I was unable to stay due to other committments.

I had the pleasure of marching with Dr. Carlos Campo, the president-elect of Regent University. No, we didn’t talk about Pat Robertson šŸ˜‰ but I did take the occasion to mention that Regent should consider being one of the regular hosts of the Urban League event.Ā  Campo is an interesting fellow – and I look forward to having the chance to chat with him again soon.

My favorite King quote of the day:

That old law about ‘an eye for an eye’ leaves everybody blind. The time is always right to do the right thing.

Oh, yeah.

~

A couple of old posts you might enjoy: MLK: Remaining Awake Through A Great Revolution and MLK Memorial Speech

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