The dream is alive
Martin Luther King celebrated on eve of Obama inaugurationBy DAN FELDNER, Staff Writer dfeldner@minotdailynews.com
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On the eve of the inauguration of the nation's first black president, a crowd of people of all races and ages filled Aleshire Theater on the campus of Minot State University Monday evening to pay tribute to Martin Luther King Jr. and celebrate how far the country has come since he rose to prominence as a leader of the civil rights movement in the 1960s.
Richard Jenkins, vice president for students affairs at MSU, said a few brief remarks at the beginning of the celebration welcoming everyone who was crammed into the packed theater and mentioned that this Martin Luther King Jr. Day had added significance because of the looming inauguration of President-elect Barak Obama.
"We celebrate a special man tonight, as we get ready to celebrate another special man tomorrow," Jenkins said.
Minot Air Force Base was well represented at the event, with Col. Joel Westa, commander of the 5th Bomb Wing, speaking at the beginning of the evening. The Minot AFB Gospel Choir also performed throughout the night, members of the Air Force helped to recite King's "I Have a Dream" speech, and a moment of silence at the end was held when a member of the Minot AFB Honor Guard played "Taps."
A particular member of the Air Force was also praised. Tech Sgt. Lee Mooring, who will probably be transferring from the Minot base in the coming year, was given a certificate of appreciation for his tireless efforts to help organize the Martin Luther King events the past few years.
Westa said the people of Minot and Minot AFB, both civilian and military, are a shining example of just how well a melting pot of different races and cultures can work.
"We're part of this city, and together we represent a pretty unique cross-section of America, and we are diversity at its finest. Martin Luther King put a voice to the dream of many Americans of that period; Americans of all races, religions and ethnicities," Westa said. "That there would be a time when the things that make us unique would be celebrated, not used to judge or belittle."
Westa said King forced America to look at and talk about the culture of racism, and how to change that culture. That King changed who we are as a country is an understatement, according to Westa.
He spoke to the crowd not only as a proud citizen of the United States, but as an equally proud member of the United States Air Force.
"I'm proud to stand here today in my uniform, representing not only the greatest Air Force in the world, but the country that serves as a model for new democracies and for multicultural republics around the world," Westa said. "Tomorrow this great country takes one step closer to Dr. King's vision as we inaugurate my new commander in chief, President Barak Obama."
A biography of King followed, and a newsreel was shown of the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom on Aug. 28, 1963, where King gave his famous "I Have a Dream" speech from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial. The grainy black and white footage showed the over 200,000 people who assembled for the event while an announcer during the newsreel marveled at just how peaceful the march was considering the number of people gathered and the emotional nature of the civil rights movement.
Throughout the night King's famous speech was recited in bits and pieces by men, women and children of numerous races. In between the recitations was a wide variety of entertainment. The First Church of the Nazarene Quartet and Minot AFB Gospel Choir both sang songs of hope and praise while the Rinat Mouzafarov Institute of Dance and Ballet Theater, which also performed at the Norsk Hstfest last year, provided a unique dance on skis.
Two video presentations of Obama were also shown, with the first looking at how people around the country reacted to his election and the fight for civil rights throughout the years, while the second video showed Obama giving his "Yes, We Can" speech.
Far from being passive spectators, the crowd in the theater often clapped along to the music and gave several standing ovations after particularly memorable musical performances. A bit of North Dakota friendliness was also shown to one young boy who had the courage to get up on stage and sing "America," by Samuel Francis Smith. The boy sang confidently through the well known song that begins with "My country, 'tis of thee," but stumbled near the end, only to have the entire crowd jump in and finish the last few lines for him.
Just before a member of the Minot AFB Honor Guard played "Taps" to end the evening, Lt. Col. Robert Payne instructed the crowd not to grow complacent with what has already been gained. He warned that unless people keep fighting for what is right, the dream of equality for everyone will remain just that - a dream.
"Because 'Yes, We Can' sounds great. But what is better is we will. We run the incredible risk of Tuesday just being symbolic. We run the incredible risk of today just being symbolic. One day that we celebrate out of the year and the 363 other days of living life normal," Payne said. "We have to move from I have a dream, to yes we can, to yes we will. And then maybe we can look back at our children, like President-elect Barak Obama said, we can look back at our children and say yes we did."
