The message from Anderson’s City-Wide Celebration of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day echoed loudly Monday afternoon.
“Love is the single most essential expression of all humanity!” proclaimed Jesse Wilkerson, a local architect who gave a brief but impassioned speech on love and what it means to carry Dr. King’s legacy in today’s world.
Wilkerson and many others gathered to honor the fallen civil rights legend at the Paramount Theatre Centre in Anderson.
Anita J. Harden, guest speaker, spoke of breaking through glass ceilings and a committee gave Tim Long, former superintendent of Anderson Community Schools, the inaugural James Cameron Award for his service in the community.
A choir of preschoolers wearing matching red T-shirts lined the front of the stage early in the program. They sang a round of “Lift Every Voice and Sing,” then the audience joined in support.
Donald Volk, executive director of the Paramount, introduced Long for the Cameron award. Long was chosen for his service to the Anderson community and promoting the ideas of peace, unity and equality, Volk said.
Long gave a short but emotional acceptance speech, nearly breaking into tears from the outset. He thanked the community and “those who’ve gone before us,” paying special homage to longtime Anderson businessman, radio personality and civil rights advocate Will Carter, who died in the fall.
“We can’t forget that as we look to our past, the future was up here singing today. The children are why we’re here,” Long said, referring to the children who had sung moments earlier.
Wilkerson pleaded with the crowd to reach out with love to others regardless of race or creed, to seek a clear identity as a community and use that dialogue as a springboard for success.
Harden, the president of Community Hospital East in Indianapolis, spoke of the hardships undergone by her and her family throughout the years.
As a woman who is black, she spoke of coming to age during the 1960s and challenging assumptions that said those two traits were disadvantages. She eventually rose to the top of her field through her career in nursing with a knack for leadership.
Of particular interest, she said she was born in her mother’s home in the South when black women weren’t allowed into maternity wards at hospitals.
“Although then I couldn’t be born in a hospital, today I lead a hospital,” Harden said, citing that fact as a testament to progress made so far by the civil rights movement.
As for other ironies created by the civil rights movement, U.S. Rep. Mike Pence recounted the bygone days of the Paramount Theatre, which, like other venues in the past, had segregated seating.
“It is exciting to think how appropriate it is that we gather here at the Paramount to celebrate Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day and we have mixed seating,” Pence said. He hailed the late Baptist minister as an American hero and an “archetypal Christian leader rightly able to handle the word of truth in the Bible.”
Harden closed her speech with a few words of inspiration.
“Love one another to the fullest extent possible ... and hold fast to your dreams,” she said.
Home News (ADS ONLY)
Related Photos
-
John P. Cleary
-
John P. Cleary
-
John P. Cleary
-
John P. Cleary
Discussion
January 15, 2007
Hundreds gather to celebrate King
Long honored with inaugural Cameron award
- Home News (ADS ONLY)
-
-
Photo gallery: AU vs Mount Saint Joseph Baseball
Photos from the baseball double header and senior night for Anderson University and Mount Saint Joseph on 5/7/10.
-
Comedian Harland Williams coming to Paramount
LOS ANGELES — Canadian Harland Williams was enjoying winter in Southern California. “It’s beautiful out,” said Williams, 47, familiar from roles in films like “Dumb & Dumber” and “There’s Something About Mary.” “A bit cold, but is 65 cold? I’ll take this cold any day, thank you.” Williams, whose Indiana performances have been exclusive to Crackers in Broad Ripple, will take the stage at the Paramount on Friday, April 2.
-
Nancy Wood back in Anderson, with ASO
ANDERSON — Nancy Wood stared into the glass vase, full of clear water, with the bare roots of a plant dangling down into it.
-
Auction deal for buyers, not for owners
ANDERSON — An auction held Saturday at a former, popular cabinet manufacturer resulted in deals for local woodwork hobbyists and businesses, but earned less than the new owners hoped for.
-
Ann Duran on the air in Madison County
DALEVILLE — As a child, radio personality Ann Duran remembers her father calling her his mini-Barbara Walters.
-
Weights, measures officials protect consumers
ANDERSON — Whether consumers are filling up their cars’ gas tanks, buying a gallon of milk or drying clothes at a laundromat, one man in Anderson makes sure they always get their money’s worth.
-
AHS rocking to 'Schoolhouse Rock Live!'
ANDERSON, Ind. — With the end of the school year quickly approaching, Anderson High School Performing Arts students are springing into a favorite pastime. With the help of their director of six years, Tiffany Jackson, the group of 12 is putting on a musical, “Schoolhouse Rock Live!”
-
Anderson native to lead county ghost tour
ANDERSON — Growing up in Madison County, Nicole Kobrowski liked to visit some of the area’s creepier places, such as Moss Island Road just west of the city.
-
Sidewalk Prophets looking for a Dove
Sidewalk Prophets know how to please a crowd when they sing Christian pop at concerts across the nation.
Now, they’d like fans to reciprocate to help the band win a Dove Award. -
At Home: Project a bonding experience
PENDLETON — When a four-year project goes on for seven years, the result is often a strained marriage.
- More Home News (ADS ONLY) Headlines
-
Pop Music Superstar Whitney Houston Dies at 48
Police: Houston Found Dead in Her Hotel Room
Paul Suffers Narrow Loss to Romney in Maine
Recording Superstar Whitney Houston Dead at 48
Maine GOP Chairman Says Romney Wins Caucuses
Palin Brings Anti-Washington Message to CPAC
Obama Scraps Birth Control Mandate
US Airmen's Killer Sentenced to Life in Germany
Navy Names Ship for Gabrielle Giffords
Raw Video: Deadly Blasts in Syria
Romney Slams President Obama at CPAC
Gingrich: Pres. Obama 'waging War on Religion'
5 Killed in Wrong-way Crash on I-10 in La.
Uzbek Man Pleads Guilty in Plot to Kill Obama
Denver's Largest-Ever Drug Bust Nets Dozens
Marines: No Punishment for Nazi-like Flag
Vets Look to Translate Military Skills Into Jobs
Raw Video: School Bus Burst Into Flames
LA School Reopens Amid Sex Abuse Scandal
$25B Settlement Reached Over Foreclosure Abuses
