Martin Luther King Jr.'s legacy of using praise and faith to combat division was on full display during the city's Unity Celebration Monday night.
Hundreds packed Spartanburg Memorial Auditorium for the 31st annual celebration featuring keynote speaker Erica Campbell, the Sounds of Diversity Choir and Orchestra and the recognition of community members working to continue some of the work started by King and other Civil Rights leaders.
Campbell, a five-time Grammy Award winner, led the large crowd in a church-like praise service, talking about her life and how those with faith can change the world.
"I wanted to challenge us, and I say 'us' because we're a family," she said. "It all starts with us."
Earlier in the night, Spartanburg city councilman Alan Jenkins presented the annual MLK awards for humanitarian excellence.
The Bethlehem Center was named the nonprofit organization humanitarian of the year for the group's work with area families and children in the Highland community.
White Elephant Enterprises, Inc. was named the business humanitarian of the year for the company's work in documenting the ongoing progress in the Northside Redevelopment effort.
Spartanburg Mayor Junie White said the night was a night to recognize the city's longstanding tradition of coming together on MLK Day. "Our city was one of the first in the state of South Carolina to officially recognize Dr. King's holiday," White said. "We still have work to do. Today was intended to be a 'day on' not a 'day off.' The effort to embrace our differences don't begin and end tonight."
The city's Unity Week featured a variety of events which are part of the "Be One" initiative promoting diversity in Spartanburg.
Campbell said she has long worked to embrace diversity through her faith. She credited visits to rough areas of her home state of California with getting her more involved in the ministry.
"We would tell people that Jesus loved them. It built the foundation for me to want to reach people who didn't always come to church, who didn't necessarily look like I looked. People who said they were left out, said there was no hope for them," she said. "Those were the people that I grew up seeing my mother and father pray for and care for."
Campbell has released two solo albums as well as several albums with her sister as part of the dynamic duo "Mary Mary."
She hosts the nationally syndicated radio show, “Get Up! Mornings with Erica Campbell,” and founded the More Than Pretty women’s empowerment movement that discusses Christianity, sexuality, friendships, and relationships from a godly perspective.
Campbell said it's a responsibility to help others and to do so for the right reasons. "I'm not here because it'll advance my career," she said. "I'm here because I love God and I love people and I love the legacy of Martin Luther King Jr."
Campbell told the crowd to always go the extra mile to help those in need.
That attitude can spread and when it spreads far enough, the division seen in many places across the country can be withered away, she said.
"I feel like we have a responsibility to challenge ourselves, especially in our climate," she said. "We have a responsibility to love each other."