DeKALB – Local celebrations in honor of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.’s birthday Monday began at the DeKalb Public Library with a series of children’s activities related to the civil rights activist.
Melissa Gilson of DeKalb did not even know the program was taking place when she took her 6-year-old daughter, Eliana, to the library to pick out a book.
“When I picked out a book, [Eliana] said she wanted something on Martin Luther King, so we just came here,” Gilson said.
About 25 volunteers from Northern Illinois University were on hand to read books on King and help with different art projects, such as mobiles and ornaments, said Gena Flynn, director of the NIU Center for Black Studies. She added that the turnout of students was far better than last year’s event.
“The annual program is an opportunity for NIU students to volunteer, and it’s a chance for children to think of the significance of Martin Luther King,” Flynn said.
Gabriel Cross, an NIU sophomore chemistry major who is also a member of the university’s Black Male Initiative, said it was his first time volunteering for the children’s program and was excited to make a difference.
“What this is really about is us speaking and making connections with each other,” Cross said. “That’s what community is all about. I’m excited to let the kids know more.”
A total of six Black Male Initiative members attended the event and took turns reading stories to kids who weren’t doing art projects.
NIU also has a number of events planned for the rest of the week to honor King’s work: a Journey Toward Justice exhibit from 2 to 7 p.m. Tuesday at the Holmes Student Center, a hip-hop and spoken word demonstration from Circles and Ciphers at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday in the Holmes Center, a social justice think tank at 5 p.m. Thursday at the Holmes Center and a Martin Luther King Concert at 3 p.m. Friday in the Boutell Memorial Concert Hall.
After the program, the annual Beloved Community Martin Luther King Holiday Service was held at the First Lutheran Church, 324 N. Third St. This special service is held at a different Christian congregation each year with the purpose of building bridges between Christian communities through the words of King.
Religious leaders at several area churches recited sermons and speeches from King at various points during his time as an activist, including the night before his assassination in 1968. This was interwoven with music from an MLK Community Choir.
One speech he gave at the National Cathedral in Washington D.C., which was read by the Rev. Joseph Mitchell of the New Hope Baptist Missionary Church, spoke of remaining awake through a great revolution.
King had said that much like Rip Van Winkle, who had slept through the American Revolution, too many people are finding themselves living in a great period of social change but have no new attitudes or responses to it. Essentially, they have slept through a revolution.
King’s words, read by Mitchell, said the disease of racism permeates through the whole body and everyone must work passionately to get rid of the disease.
The speech King gave before to his death at the Mason Temple in Memphis, which was read by the Rev. Leroy Mitchell of New Hope Baptist Missionary Church, reflected on his near-fatal stabbing when he was 29. Doctors said the blade of the letter opener he was stabbed with was resting on his aorta and had he even sneezed, it could have killed him.
Ironically, King said the night before he was assassinated by James Earl Ray that although he had received threats when he came to Memphis, he was not concerned because he had “been to the mountaintop” by doing God’s will.
“I’m not worried about anything. I’m not fearing any man,” Mitchell recited. “Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord.”