Mayor challenges listeners to change at annual MLK observance
By Lisa DeNeal Post-Tribune correspondent January 16, 2012 5:02PM
Audience member Regina Gaston of Gary claps and sings along with the performance of the Ecumancial Choir during the 42nd Ecumenical Service celebrating the life and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. held at West Side High School in Gary on Monday January 16, 2012. | Charles Mitchell~For Sun-Times Media
Updated: January 16, 2012 9:32PM
GARY — Gary Mayor Karen Freeman-Wilson asked her audience Monday how much pain will they endure before taking action and becoming part of the solution.
The new mayor made her remarks at the 43rd annual Ecumenical Service at West Side Leadership Academy.
The service honors the life and legacy of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., who would have been 83 on Jan. 15.
“I ask you, as we celebrate the legacy of a man of action, what would you do after being sentimental and what would you do to take action?
“How do you feel when the ancestors of descendents who fought and died for us to have a right to vote, decide not to exercise their right to vote? How do you feel when young and adult men act out as thugs and young girls are called b---- and think it is a form of endearment? How do you feel when ... young people like the ones in this audience are doing great things, but are overshadowed by the ones who act like they don’t have any sense,” Freeman-Wilson said.
“Some of us are angry, weary and tired of being sick and tired. But as strong as those sentiments are, nothing will change until you take action.”
Freeman-Wilson told the audience the accomplishments of African-Americans deserve celebration year-round.
“We use the stoplight every single day, we use a refrigerator every single day, the president works 365 days a year ... and thank God for the straightening comb,” she said as the audience cheered.
The service included performances from the ecumenical choir and the Wirt-Emerson Visual and Performing Arts Academy’s Junior High Choir.
The annual student essay contest winners are Wirt-Emerson junior Jaelan Collins, who won a $700 scholarship; Wirt-Emerson junior James Wells, who won a $300 scholarship; and Thea Bowman Leadership Academy senior Trumere Butler, who won a $200 scholarship. Their essay topic was based on a quote from King: “Ten thousand fools who proclaim themselves into obscurity, while one wise man forgets himself into immortality.”
Others who spoke touched on the similar needs to work together and support Freeman-Wilson in making changes in the city of Gary.
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