Scholarship winners urged to help build community on MLK Day

Jan. 18—A Decatur organization honored the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.'s memory Monday by awarding $50,000 in scholarships to 43 local high school and college students who were encouraged to return to live and work in the community.

State Sen. Arthur Orr, R-Decatur, was one of the award presenters at the 29th annual Unity Breakfast and Scholarship Awards at Ingalls Harbor Pavilion, and he urged the students to utilize their skills to help develop their home areas after graduating from college.

"We need you here in Decatur and Morgan County," Orr said. "Go off and get your education and get that first job, but please come back and put your shoulder to the wheel and help build this community."

The Decatur — Morgan County Minority Development Association coordinated the event and scholarships. Funds for the scholarships came from local businesses and individual donors.

The Unity Breakfast was the major observance of the MLK holiday in Decatur.

In Athens, a march was held around the Limestone County Courthouse and was followed by a program at the Alabama Veterans Museum and Archives.

Decatur Chief of Police Nate Allen, representatives from Daikin America and NUCOR Steel, and Pastor Jerry Baker of St. Peter Missionary Baptist Church also were award presenters.

Decatur-Morgan County Chamber of Commerce CEO Crystal Brown was presented the 2022 DMDA Humanitarian award and agreed with Orr about students working in Morgan County during her acceptance speech.

"We encourage you to come back and use your gifts and talents in this beautiful community that we are growing and building for you," Brown said.

Becoming leaders in Morgan County is exactly what scholarship recipients Branee Smith and Kimberly Whitehead plan to do.

"I definitely see myself returning to mentor other scholars, seniors like me," Smith said. "I want them to pursue and go after all the different scholarship opportunities."

Smith is a senior at Decatur High and plans on attending Calhoun Community College and plans on majoring in nursing. She received a $1,500 scholarship from DMDA and a $3,000 scholarship from Daikin America.

"I think the field of (technology) is getting bigger," Whitehead said. "I can see myself coming back here and having a life and a family here."

Also a senior at Decatur High, Whitehead received a $500 My Community scholarship from DMDA. She plans on attending Alabama A&M and majoring in computer science, where she will use those skills to pursue a STEM-related field.

Both Decatur seniors encouraged area students to apply for the DMDA scholarships.

"I think that even if you're unsure about what you want to go into, you should still apply for (the scholarships)," Whitehead said. "Even though I'm still unsure, I know that I can have a lot of opportunities than if I just didn't apply at all. So go apply even if you're not 100% sure."

King, considered the United States' foremost advocate of civil rights, was a proponent of education during his life, which ended with his assassination in 1968 at the age of 39.

"The walling off of Negroes from equal education is part of the historical design to submerge him in second-class status. Therefore as Negroes have struggled to be free they have had to fight for the opportunity for a decent education," King said in a 1964 speech to the United Federation of Teachers. "... The richest nation on Earth has never allocated enough resources to build sufficient schools, to compensate adequately its teachers, and to surround them with the prestige our work justifies."

Garfield Bowen, the vice president of social justice strategy and initiatives, did a brief, pre-recorded video message that was played before the scholarships were awarded. DMDA Director Murphy Brown said Bowen did not attend the event in person as a precaution to help prevent the spread of COVID. The event also was available to viewers online.

"I am inspired by your theme, 'Love Wins', because it does," Bowen said. "3M is a global, purpose-driven company that recognizes we're stronger and more effective together if we are to truly dismantle the systems of oppression, racism and injustice."

Andrea Crayton, events and marketing coordinator for Bridge Builders Church International in Decatur, also spoke in a video message on the significance of King's life and teachings and compared them to the modern pandemic.

"When we reflect back on the life of Dr. King ... this civil rights movement was very similar to what we're dealing with now; a lot of tragedy, a lot of loss, a lot of confusion, and a lot of chaos ..." Crayton said. "So this young leader arises and says I have a solution, and the solution is love. It's this love that always seems to rise in the face of darkness, in the face of calamity, and in the face of chaos and confusion. This love always wins."

At the end of the event, Murphy Brown said that DMDA needs the public's support to fulfill scholarship commitments. He said that donations can be made on the organization's website — dmcda.com.

"We will do what we've always done with your money, invest in these students," he said.

— wesley.tomlinson@decaturdaily.com or 256-340-2438.