FLORENCE, SC (WBTW) – The Florence community gathered at Cumberland United Methodist Church Monday night to honor the legacy of civil rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
“We take time out of our busy schedules to pay tribute to the enduring legacy of an extraordinary leader,” said Florence city councilwoman Octavia Williams-Blake. “To honor not only his vision but his action as he worked for equality, peace, and justice for all.”
“You will often see these V-formations of birds flying to warmer climates. There is always a point bird,” said Florence NAACP second Vice-President Maggie Wallace Glover. “We are here tonight to celebrate one of God’s greatest point birds.”
“While in the midst of seeking his own personal career objections, he was pushed to the forefront by others, whom I believe that God placed in his life at the right moment in time,” pronounced Dr. Calvin Robinson, pastor of Trinity Baptist Church and main speaker at the event. “He accepted the challenge to take up the mantle and lead a band of thirsty people across the desert of oppression.”
“It is not enough to say that we must not wage war,” said Alayah Hamlin, President of the Francis Marion University chapter of the NAACP, quoting Dr. King. “It is necessary to love peace and sacrifice for it. We must see that peace represents that sweeter music, a cosmic melody, that is far superior to the discords of war.”
“Some even died so that you and I could matriculate through any university in this great united states of America,” said Robinson.
“He said ‘Stick with love. Hate is too big a burden to bear,'” quoted Councilwoman Williams-Blake.
