Maconites gather to celebrate Martin Luther King Jr., reaffirm that ‘fight is not over’
Hundreds of Maconites came together both online and in person to honor the legacy of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. with speeches, songs and prayers during Macon-Bibb County’s MLK Day celebration Monday morning.
Originally planned to be held in Rosa Parks Square across the street, organizers moved the ceremony into the commission chamber and ostensibly closed it to the public due to weather and COVID-19 concerns, instead offering a livestream on the Macon-Bibb County Facebook page and website. A march typically held on MLK Day was also canceled.
But with almost 30 presenters and groups, their relatives and supporters, county staff and media representatives, the chamber was standing room-only.
The event featured prayers by faith leaders, speeches from politicians, songs and performances by community organizations and school groups. Through the words sung and spoken, a common message emerged: it’s important to celebrate and remember King’s legacy, but the fight is not over.
Several presenters focused on voting rights, from the passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 to a current piece of legislation named after late Georgia congressman John Lewis that would restore provisions to that act.
Sen. David Lucas was one of Macon’s first Black representatives since Reconstruction when he was elected to the state house in 1974.
“On behalf of all those folks who walked the streets, who took the beatings for us to have voting rights and be able to elect someone that possibly looked like us…I’d like to thank you for the opportunity of being here to greet you today,” Lucas said. “But we must remember, the fight is not over. Voting rights have seemed to have made a turnaround. We are right now fighting for our real existence of being able to determine who we want to represent us.”
Macon-Bibb County Mayor Pro-Tem Seth Clark read a quote from King, “So long as I do not firmly and irrevocably possess the right to vote, I do not possess myself. I cannot make up my mind — it is made up for me. I cannot live as a democratic citizen, observing the laws I have helped to enact — I can only submit to the edict of others.”
“We are standing here as state laws have curbed people’s right to vote,” Clark said. “Our government at the state level has failed us. It is up to people of good will and good nature of all political values to say something. If we do not want our brothers and sisters to live under the edict of others… now is the time to say something.”
The event, which lasted more than two hours, was highlighted by a recitation of a portion of King’s “I Have a Dream” speech by M.A. Evans Academy students, a rendition of “A Change is Gonna Come” by Katina Cabiness and a presentation from coach and teacher Kalo Oglesby.
“Today I stand as one with the many who have come and gone before me. I’m going to say I am forging forward and I will not go back,” Oglesby said. “I will work with those who I do not agree with. I will reach across the aisles.
“I will quote the namesake of this event today: ‘I don’t know what will happen to us now. We’ve got some difficult days ahead. But that doesn’t really matter to me now. Like anybody, I would like to live a long life — longevity has its place. But I’m not concerned about that this morning. I just want to do God’s will over my life…’ I want you to know this morning that we as a people will get to the Promised Land.”
The event was organized by Macon-Bibb County’s Martin Luther King Jr. Commission, which includes the Rev. Dr. Henry Ficklin and June O’Neal, with commissioner Elaine Lucas and the Rev. Harold Young, director of the Tubman Museum, acting as mistress and master of ceremony.
Presenters included Herbert Dennard, who helped organize the original MLK March in Macon; Father Steven Pavignano; Mayor Lester Miller, Rabbi Elizabeth Bahar of Macon’s Temple Beth Israel; Bibb County DA Anita Howard; Juwan Jackson of the Bibb County board of education; the Rev. Glindry Michel from the Baptist Ministers Union; Dominique Nichols of the Bibb County School District; Shekita Maxwell; Cleopatra Simpson of the Lilly Bell Foundation; the Rev. Kenneth Moye; former Macon Mayor C. Jack Ellis; Phoenix Blackwell, who quoted portions of MLK’s “I Have a Dream” speech; and a closing prayer by the Rev. Paul Kelly.
Musical performers included saxophonist Tracie Washington Scott; Bibb County NAACP President Gwen Westbrooks; Macon-Bibb County’s Rachel Gambill; Carlton Kitchens; and the youth choral group Destined for Greatness.
