King, local black leaders honored at annual MLK Day luncheon

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Jan. 18—ROCKINGHAM — The Richmond County Martin Luther King Dr. Day Celebration Foundation held their annual luncheon over Zoom Monday afternoon.

Before the keynote presentation by Kimberly Harrington, various leaders from around Richmond County kicked off the festivities with tributes to MLK.

Rockingham City Clerk Sabrina McDonald recited a poem by Langston Hughes, which was followed by a performance of "Lift Every Voice and Sing" which everyone was invited to join.

Sheriff Mark Gulledge said that MLK dedicated his life to achieving equality for people of color and that his teachings should be applied to everyday life.

Ellerbe Mayor Brenda Capel said that the Civil Rights movement profoundly shaped the trajectory of the United States. This was followed by singing "God Bless America," led by Clerk of Superior Court Vickie Daniel.

Dr. Jeff Maples, Superintendent of Richmond County Schools, announced the winners of their MLK essay and poster contest. Essay winner Alexander Leon, an eighth-grader at Ellerbe Middle School, read his essay.

"His dream has inspired people to follow their dreams because they can now see that you can help change things for good when you follow your dream," Leon wrote.

Leon said that some barriers still exist, including racism.

"Nobody does it like Richmond County when it comes to celebrating Martin Luther King Jr. Day," Harrington said before she began her speech.

Harrington is an award-winning writer, columnist and page designer who spent 23 years in journalism. Her experience includes 14 years as a staff writer and news editor at the Richmond County Daily Journal in Rockingham, and six years as director of marketing and public relations for Sandhills Regional Medical Center in Hamlet.

She began with recalling a racial incident during her time as an editor in Cheraw, South Carolina. Upon her hiring, a customer purchasing an ad approached her in the office and called her the "new n****r on the block."

Her publisher swiftly called the police, and that individual was not allowed back at their office or to advertise.

"That incident reminds me of the current state of affairs in America," Harrington said, alluding to the "best of times and the worst of times" of Charles Dickens's classic novel "A Tale of Two Cities."

"There are radical opposites taking places across this nation," Harrington said. "There's a heightened aggression between blue state vs. red states, between vaccinated vs. the unvaccinated, to wear a mark or not to wear a mask, fear vs. facts. There seems to be a thin line between what is rational and what is simply tomfoolery."

Harrington said that while African-Americans are breaking barriers through MLK's dream (the theme of this year's MLK Day celebrations), some are threatened by that progress. She pointed to the election of President Barack Obama as the pinnacle of that progress.

"We celebrated the victory of a brown man moving into the White House built by black hands," Harrington said. "It was that election that awoke the sleeping giant of racial hatred. We knew it existed but it was more subtle, disguised as micro-aggressions."

Harrington said that the FBI reported a 21% increase in hate crimes following his election, with around 70% of those threats involving anti-black violence.

"It would be during the Obama years when the world came to know Trayvon Martin, Eric Garner, Michael Brown, Tamir Rice, Walter Scott and Freddie Gray to name a few — yes, say their names," Harrington said.

Despite instances of racial injustice, Harrington spoke about the rise in representation of African-Americans in Congress and a renewed interest in HBCU's, but also the recent threats of terrorism at those colleges.

"Black Lives Matter is one of the most successful social justice movements of all times," she said. "As a result of Black Lives Matter, police reform is on the horizon, Confederate statues are coming down, police officers are being charged and convicted, businesses are taking a stand and Juneteenth is a national Federal holiday. We are indeed making strides."

Those strides include the "examples of progress paved by J.C. Watkins," Harrington said. Watkins, who along with his wife have had the former Leak Street Cultural Center renamed in their honor, was the first African-American elected to Rockingham City Council and the second African-American elected to the Richmond County Board of Commissioners. He and his wife, Ruth, were renowned for their impact on the black community in Richmond County through the school system.

Bruce Stanback, the late Sheriff James Clemmons, Capel, McDonald, Dobbins Heights Mayor Antonio Blue, Richmond County Partnership for Children Executive Director Katrina Chance, Ellerbe Town Councilman and school board candidate Jeremy McKenzie, and Commissioner Tavares Bostic were just some of the individuals that Harrington listed.

"The progress made by African-Americans of the last half century have been outstanding," Harrington said. "Yet, we have a long way to go forward."

Harrington said that attention should be given to Africa, and that it's time to support black-owned businesses and banks.

"Let's unite and support businesses run by people who look like us and sort out businesses that mistreat us," Harrington said. "We are an awesome, powerful people of African descent and our time has come."

Harrington concluded by saying that God is on their side.

"Only in America were black people, Africans, ripped from their homelands, where they dwelled among powerful kingdoms and well established educational and religions systems, where we possessed the genetic coding of great kings and queens who were brought to America, a foreign land, defined by the color of our skin and made to believe that we were inferior, subjected to the harshest form of slavery ever established in the world, working from sun up to sundown, sometimes only allowed to eat meat once a year, held hostage to plantations, separated from our families, subjected to the will of the masses, sold as property, forbidden to learn to read, beaten and lynched," Harrington said.

"Yet here we are, still standing, still rising, breaking barriers, demanding respect, holding racists accountable, running board meetings, corporate CEOs, doctors, lawyers, even presidents of the very United States that enslaved us," Harrington concluded. "As we break barriers, know with God on our side, we will never break."

A full video of the Zoom meeting can be found on the Facebook page of the Martin Luther King Jr. Celebration Foundation.

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Reach Matthew Sasser at 910-817-2671 or [email protected]