2018 King Day Celebration marks 50th anniversary of MLK speech
Commemoration features Dream Award presentations, celebrity keynote speaker
By Jada Haynes
ALBANY — Albany State University professor and playwright Curtis Williams and the family of Shirley Gaines, who was a part of the movement to desegregate Albany High School, received Dream Awards Tuesday at the annual King Day Celebration.
Albany State University’s West Campus gymnasium was the setting for the celebration on Tuesday. Each table in the gymnasium held a photo of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. at the Lorraine Motel, a quote from King, or a golden, circular plaque of a ram, ASU’s mascot.
A special attendee at the celebration was Rutha Harris, one of the original Freedom Singers in Albany. She was joined by Judge Penny Brown Reynolds, a State Trial Court judge-turned-celebrity-TV judge/inspirational speaker; Ken Hodges, who is currently campaigning for a judgeship on Georgia’s Court of Appeals, and Anita Allen, the interim assistant police chief at ASU.
“We have some great leaders and talented people here in Dougherty County,” Allen said. “You would be amazed. And I’m still amazed every year. So many people have died, and people are still living their legacy by nominating them or their family because they paved the way for other people. That’s the most beautiful part of it.”
After the Dream Awards were received, it was time for Reynolds’ speech. As a student of King, her address touched on a wide range of topics, such as the importance of having the right conversations about race in America, why failing to pass on knowledge of history to the next generation is detrimental to the cause, the timeline leading up to King’s assassination and how proud she is of the Parkland teens currently protesting for gun control.
“If you don’t leave with anything, don’t leave saying that I gave a good speech,” Reynolds said. “I want somebody’s spirit to be changed, that says ‘I can do more, I can give more, I can love more, I can smile more, I can be nicer and be a better person.’”
Her speech was followed by a stirring performance by Harris.
While the crowd cleared out, Hodges said it is important for attendees to remember the words of King and of keynote speaker Reynolds.
“As Judge Brown Reynolds said, we’ve got to carry the message of what went on in the ’60s for (the next generations); they need to understand the lessons of the past, so we don’t repeat them,” Hodges said. “We also need to do things like this to raise money for the [Albany] Civil Rights Institute.
“We’ve got to have a place where people can go and learn, and we’ve sent a lot of students through the Civil Rights Institute. People need to hear it, and people need to experience it. I don’t know if we’ll ever stop (holding the King Day event). It’s not going to be my decision to stop. I think it’s good to do it every year.”
The celebration is typically held on in January near the date of King’s birthday, but damaging storms last year forced cancellation. Asked if the commemoration would be at ASU’s West Campus from now on, Hodges said that it is the King Celebration Committee’s decision.
“I kind of like switching back and forth, but sometimes that leads to confusion,” he said. “We always used to do it in the Civic Center, but the Civic Center, frankly, is a bit pricey and I don’t know that we need the space right now.”
Dream Award sponsors at the celebration included WALB, The Albany Herald, MillerCoors, Phoebe Putney Memorial Hospital, the city of Albany, Mars Wrigley Confectionery, Procter & Gamble, the Ken Nugent Law Office and the Ken Hodges Law Firm.
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