"Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that." — The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
Canton is no place for hate.
Stark County is no place for hate.
That message was repeated several times Thursday at the Greater Canton Martin Luther King Jr. Commission's 26th annual Mayor's Breakfast. "No place for hate" was this year's theme as celebrants filled the ballroom at McKinley Grand Hotel in downtown Canton to hear joyous signing and spirituous, uplifting words.
Scholarship and special award winners demonstrated that a person's age, gender and race make no difference in what they can contribute (or already have) within our community.
In this 50th anniversary year of Dr. King's assassination, we will hear often his call for racial equality and justice.
State Rep. Fred Strahorn, the keynote speaker Thursday, reminded the audience, however, contrary to a widely held belief, King did not preach tolerance. Nonviolence, yes, but that is not synonymous with tolerance.
"We can be tolerant all day," Strahorn said. "Just tolerating people will not move us forward."
He noted King's death — and its lasting affect on his wife and children — deserves more than our remembrance and recitation of his words. You don't honor his life and the sacrifice King made merely with praise, Strahorn said; you honor that level of sacrifice with action.
"Show up. Speak up. That's the way you honor the King family," he said.
Near the end of Thursday's breakfast, Leonard Stevens, vice chair of the Greater Canton Martin Luther King Jr. Commission, invited the crowd to stand and give itself an ovation before all joined hands to sing, "We Shall Overcome."
With the love and unity in the room, where there was no place for hate, it was a fitting ending.
That feeling of hope is what attendees should hold onto to bring light to the darkness.