How to honor Martin Luther King Jr.? Seek justice, respect others and follow your dreams

In a virtual setting, civil rights advocate Aramis Ayala spoke of continuing slain Martin Luther King Jr.'s fight against segregation and discrimination with truth, heart and strategy.

At the Jacksonville NAACP's Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Virtual Community Empowerment Breakfast, the former state attorney urged supporters of King's vision to not be "content or satisfied" with progress but to aspire to full equality and justice for all. The fight, she said, is "not a destination, but a journey."

At the city-sponsored Martin Luther King Jr. Breakfast at the Prime Osborn Convention Center, motivational speaker Simon T. Bailey spoke of "living the dream." He told guests how — individually and collectively — they can "make a difference" through kindness and understanding.

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"So Dr. King said, 'I have a dream.' Now you begin to say, 'I am the dream,'" Bailey said. "Walking, talking, living moving, looking another human being in the eye, hugging them with my words and saying 'I got you'. When we connect, it is oxygen for the soul," he said.

Jacksonville's two main Martin Luther King Jr. Day community breakfasts Friday morning were among multiple Northeast Florida events honoring King, who was assassinated in 1968 in Memphis, Tenn., and whose birthday was Jan. 15.

Other King Day events Monday include parades in Jacksonville and Fernandina Beach and observances at Jacksonville Beach and St. Augustine, where King visited in 1964.

The theme of this year's NAACP breakfast was "When we fight, we win."

"How do we fight," Ayala asked, "and what do we do when we win?"

The fight must be led by truth, never manipulative, "always authentic," said Ayala, an assistant professor in the University of Central Florida's department of legal studies. "Truth does not discriminate. It just is."

And the current truth is that injustice is "alive and well," as is "dismissal of injustice. There is no justice in bits and pieces. It is the result of systemic and intentional patterns," she said, and a continuing pattern is lawmakers enacting "oppressive laws" to restrict voting access.

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The campaign for civil rights must address those patterns and everyone must participate in taking them down. "The power for change is found in the numbers," she said.

"What do we do when we win? We keep winning, it's that simple, over and over and over again," she said. "Once we win, we must reach back and bring others along … We cannot let up off the gas when we reach the next plateau. We must use that as momentum to get over the next hurdle because there is another hurdle ahead."

Community Empowerment Awards

During the virtual breakfast, the NAACP also gave Community Empowerment Awards to four nonprofits: the Miami-based 5000 Role Models of Excellence Project, which has a dropout prevention and mentoring program in Duval County Public Schools; Jacksonville-based My Village Project, which helps Black nonprofits build sustainable programs for students; the MAD DADS Jacksonville chapter, which works to prevent community problems such as illegal drug use and social disorder; and the Neighborhood Alliance Development Corp., which works to provide affordable housing, employment and neighborhood stabilization, among other things, in Jacksonville's Myrtle Avenue area.

Joshua Bass, a Raines High School senior, is a member of the Duval County 5000 Role Models chapter. He said its work is "exposing boys to positive adult male role models and experiences like our college visits, weekly life skills workshops and career explorations."

Such tools, he said, help young boys "grow into men whose success positively impacts our families and communities."

Be an example of how to make MLK's dream alive

At the city-sponsored event, Bailey pondered a question.

"Sixty years after Dr. King made the speech, we have to ask … are we living the dream?" he said, citing a Gallup poll that showed the top 20% of the population is doing well, while the bottom 20% are not. "There is a strong need for everyone to connect, care and contribute. Why? Love and respect have no color."

Bailey urged guests to check on individuals in their lives, use manners and be generous with friends and strangers alike. "The next time you go to the grocery store, pay for the person behind you. The next time you eat at a restaurant, pick up the check without the person knowing who paid for it," he said.

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He also urged them to take care of themselves through meditation, exercise, diet and sleep. Take care of their communities by hiring "Black and Brown people" and supporting minority vendors.

"It’s time to live the dream. Be a walking, talking example of how to make Dr. King’s dream come alive," Bailey, whose latest book is Ignite the Power of Women - A Guide for Men, said.

Tomorrow's Leaders

Mayor Lenny Curry said such annual gatherings to remember King are a key part of city life.

"It is incredibly important … to reflect, honor and strengthen our commitment to the legacy and ideals that Dr. King instilled in our nation," he said.

Also important is the event's recognition of Tomorrow’s Leaders, students who show leadership, community volunteerism and civic responsibility. "Every year I am inspired by their stories and dreams, Curry said.

The 2023 winners wrote an essay based on this King quote: "No work is insignificant. All labor that uplifts humanity has dignity and importance and should be undertaken with painstaking excellence." They were asked to write about their dream jobs and how those jobs are "significant and influential to our community," according to the city.

The first-place winners of the essay contest's high school, middle and elementary categories spoke at the breakfast.

Douglas Anderson School of the Arts 11th-grader Sofia Marcilese, the high school winner, aspires to be an actor. She said her career choice "can inspire positivity in hundreds of people at once, even when the world seems weaker than ever before."

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If her work can inspire "ambition for the future or coax a smile out of the hurt and lonely, I will have succeeded as an actor," she said.

Desiree Garcia, an eighth-grader at LaVilla School of the Arts, won the middle school category. She said the King quote made her realize that her writing can be a gift to others.

"Whatever I write or feel, another person can relate to," she said. "My work doesn't have to be insignificant because everything I write is for a reason and it may help someone feel noticed."

Andrew A. Robinson Elementary fourth-grader Jael McBride won the elementary category. She told the crowd they would see her again: She plans to be a noteworthy entertainer.

"Dr. Martin Luther King believed in dreams and I believe in my dream … with projects and influence that will change the world," she said. "Remember my name: Jael London McBride."

bcravey@jacksonville.com, (904) 359-4109

MORE 2023 MARTIN LUTHER KING DAY EVENTS

Saturday

11 a.m. Martin Luther King Day Beaches Celebration, SeaWalk Pavilion, 75 First St. N., Jacksonville Beach. Presented by the Rhoda L. Martin Cultural Heritage Center and the three Beaches cities. Information: mslil1230@gmail.com.

Monday

10 a.m. 42nd annual Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day Parade in downtown Jacksonville, hosted by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Foundation Inc., sponsored by the Law Offices of Ron Sholes. The parade will begin on Water Street near the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta, head to Laura and West Adams streets and finish on Lee Street. Information: (904) 240-1523, mlkfdnorg@yahoo.com, mlkfdnorg.com.

10:30 a.m. Silent march through St. Augustine, hosted by the Dr. Martin Luther King Celebration Committee of St. Johns County and led by the Rev. Anthony Britton, from 86 Martin Luther King Ave. to the Plaza de la Constitucion. The march commemorates the King-led marches in St. Augustine during the 1960s civil rights movement in the 1960s. (A commemorative breakfast earlier in the day is sold out). Information: (904) 669-8863.

11 a.m.-4 p.m. 42nd annual MLK Day Celebration, Ritz Theatre and Museum, 829 N. Davis St., Jacksonville. Hosted by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Foundation Inc. and sponsored by the Law Offices of Ron Sholes, the event will feature entertainment, food, vendors, workshops, books, poetry, interactive children's storytelling and live spoken-word performances. Information: (904) 240-1523, mlkfdnorg@yahoo.com, mlkfdnorg.com.

Noon. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Parade through downtown Fernandina Beach's Ash Street and Centre streets, sponsored by the Elm Street Sportsmen Association. Information: Wayne Peterson at (904) 753-1663.

This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Jacksonville and NAACP host pre-Martin Luther King Jr. day speakers