Members of the Kaiserslautern, Germany, military community march through the streets of the Vogelweh installlation, following a program commemorating Martin Luther King, Jr.'s birthday on Thursday. (Michael Abrams / S&S)
Members of the Kaiserslautern, Germany, military community march through the streets of the Vogelweh installlation, following a program commemorating Martin Luther King, Jr.'s birthday on Thursday. (Michael Abrams / S&S)
The members of the Kaiserslautern High School step team, from left, Alana Young, Sean Sullivan, Curtis Singleton and Olyvia Smith, perform at the Martin Luther King, Jr., birthday celebration on Thursday. (Michael Abrams / S&S)
Willie Day, an Army veteran and now an equal employment opportunity specialist in Heidelberg, was the keynote speaker at the event. (Michael Abrams / S&S)
Kaiserslautern high school 10th-grader Lakeidra Chavis recites a self-penned poem about Martin Luther King at the community's celebration honoring the civil rights leader, who would have turned 80 on Thursday. (Michael Abrams / S&S)
KAISERSLAUTERN, Germany — A day on, not a day off.
That served as a theme for this year’s Martin Luther King Jr. birthday celebration hosted by the U.S. Army Garrison Kaiserslautern.
The celebration Thursday in honor of what would have been the slain civil rights leader’s 80th birthday was indeed a day on for those participating in the 90-minute program and subsequent commemorative march. Speeches, songs, a poem and a step-dance routine were highlights of the day as dozens attended the event.
That Barack Obama will be sworn-in Tuesday as America’s first black president did not go unmentioned Thursday. In King’s l963 landmark "I Have a Dream" speech, the reverend spoke about the dream of his children living in a nation where they would not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.
"In just a few days, we will take a historical leap, a quantum leap toward the dream as we inaugurate a new president who epitomizes what Dr. King envisioned," said Teri Guy of the Kaiserslautern Equal Employment Opportunity Office.
Willie Day, an equal employment opportunity specialist with the Heidelberg garrison, delivered a roughly 20-minute speech in which he gave several examples of how King lived his life like a soldier.
"He was a soldier who fought for equality, justice, freedom and peace for all Americans," Day said. "He fought for the right to be treated with dignity and respect, for the right to attain the American dream based on merit, and the right to live in peace and harmony. Like a soldier, he marched to a cadence — not the cadence of a drill sergeant, but the cadence of the poor and oppressed."
Day also related the result of November’s presidential election to King’s message. Obama’s election to the presidency does not signal that America is free of racial bias, prejudice or discrimination, Day said.
"What it does mean though I think is that as a society, we have made great progress," he said. "And that’s why it’s important to keep this dream alive."
At the age of 35, King received the Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts in advocating civil rights. Four years later in 1968, King was shot and killed by a white man in Memphis, Tenn.
Since 1986, Americans have celebrated the third Monday in January as a national holiday in honor of King.
