MCLB King Day celebration draws crowd

ALBANY — A special ceremony was held at the Marine Corps Logistics Base-Albany Chapel on Wednesday to remember and honor the legacy of Martin Luther King Jr.

The celebration looked at King’s life and his dream and how they translate some 60 years later.

The theme for the program was “Remember! Act! Celebrate! Act! A Day on and not a Day Off!”

The event was organized, in part, by Ira Thompson, president of the Albany Area Chapter of Blacks in Government. Keynote speaker was Kimberly Persley, a 24-year employee of the Department of Community Supervision and current Coordinating Chief Supervision Officer for the Dougherty County Judicial Circuit. She is the wife of Michael Persley, who serves as chief of the Albany Police Department.

Persley talked about how King’s life inspired others to pick up and carry his torch.

“It is very important that we continue to meet and share his legacy,” Persley said. “It is not a day off, but a day on.”

Persley said that participation in King Day events keeps his legacy on everyone’s mind and keeps his story alive.

“He was a change agent that changed all agents,” she said.

Persley challenged the audience to carry on with King’s ideas and ideals, to rise up from King’s dream by making their own positive impact in their homes, churches, places of business and community.

“Who? Who? Who? If not you, then who? When? When? When? If not now, then when will we rise up from the dream?” Persley asked. “Each day we see the remnants of King’s dream. We see what could have been.”

But Persley said she too often sees brokenness: broken homes, broken lives, broken communication, broken dreams. She referred to another dreamer whose story is written in the Bible starting with Genesis 37:5. It is the story of Joseph, who told his brothers of his dreams and instead of supporting him they hated him. They even cast him into a pit and left him there to die.

“Be careful what you say, what you call your brothers,” Persley said.

She talked about how King also was despised and hated by many for his dream of equality and civil rights. She also noted some of the injustices and “cruel circumstances” that led to King sharing his dream with the world.

“But look, we are here today talking about their dreams,” said Persley.

Her message to the audience was to rise up and share their own dreams.

Before the event got underway, Thompson talked about the impact King had on this country, this community and on him personally.

“I am looking forward to commemorating what Dr. King has done and his dream,” he said. “He was a man of non-violence. His legacy showed us that we can move forward in a non-violent manner.”

Thompson said change came about as a result of King’s walk, his dream and his life. Now people are living out his legacy and passing it on to the next generations.

“He was a public servant at heart,” said Thompson, while noting that one of the ways Americans across the country and in Albany will honor King next week is to participate in community service projects. Thompson said he will visit area nursing homes with other community leaders.

“One of the greatest services we can do is to visit the sick and the shut-ins,” he said. “It means a lot to me to have the chance to see many of the great changes Dr. King made and those that were inspired by his sacrifices. We have to realize that his dream is not over, it has only just begun.”