Augusta University, Paine College and Augusta Technical Institute kicked off the week celebrating the life of Dr. Martin Luther King with their annual tri-college Birthday Celebration.
Unlike years past, this year’s celebration was presented in a virtual format, which gave the program a more intimate feeling than the usual formal institutional setting.
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Augusta Mayor Hardy Davis opened the program by pointing out how the MLK holiday is a day not just dedicated to a man or a race of people but is the celebration of a milestone in American history.
“He stood up to make a difference for every race,” Mayor Davis said. “His words spoke to every nationality to feel no segregation. Martin Luther King Day is not known as a black holiday, it is the people’s holiday.”
The keynote speaker of the tri-college event was former United Nations Ambassador Andrew Young, who was a close associate of King’s from the beginning of the civil rights movement to his assassination in 1968. Speaking from his private study, Young reflected that this year marks the civil rights icon’s 92nd birthday.
“As a young man (Dr. King), chose to live in Montgomery – a small town – he wanted to be a pastor. He had just gotten his doctorate and did not want to be in politics,” Young reflected.
Then, a woman named Rosa Parks took a stand when she refused to give up her bus seat. Her act of both dignity and defiance caused a spark in the then 26-year-old King, Young said. On the heels of Rosa Parks actions, King suddenly had a dream, and his dream caused a social awakening.
Ambassador Young spoke about his early days with King and his role in forming the Southern Christian Leadership Conference.
“He created it,” Young explained, “to redeem the soul of America from racism, war and poverty.”
Young conceded that the 1964 Civil Rights Act was a giant step forward in fulfilling Martin Luther King Jr’s dream, but added that racism, war and poverty still exist, and that America still has work to do to fully realize King’s dream.
“In order to deal with poverty, we’ve got to work to make everybody successful,” Young commented. “That means making a good education available, whether it is an academic education or a technical education,”
The Ambassador concluded by remarking that Martin Luther King’s vision of equality has grown in scope to include not just black people but all people, including LGBT people.
“The fulfillment of (H)is dream is the fulfillment of God’s purpose for humankind,” Young said.
The video of the event is available on line at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PR8nKRpUr5M.
Scott Hudson is the Managing Editor of The Augusta Press. Reach him at scott@theaugustapress.com
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