Wisconsinites Gather To Honor King’s Life, Legacy

Wisconsinites gathered across the state Monday to honor the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

Hundreds of people packed the state Capitol rotunda for a jubilant Martin Luther King Jr. Day celebration. At times, attendees sang along with musical performances and listened raptly to speakers and recitations of King’s words.

Wisconsin Public Radio’s Jonathan Overby hosted the 37th annual Martin Luther King Jr. Day Celebration at the state Capitol, which featured musical performances, the 2017 MLK Heritage Awards and a keynote speech by author and entrepreneur Valerie Daniels-Carter.

“I stand before you today because I represent the future that Dr. King could not see, but he fought for,” Daniels-Carter said.

The 2017 MLK Heritage Award recipients were Milwaukee’s Journey House, a community center on Milwaukee’s near south side, and Ronald Morris, an admissions advisor overseeing multicultural recruitment at the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay.

“You can make the impossible possible, and that’s what we’re doing in Milwaukee,” said Michele Bria, chief executive officer of Journey House, as she accepted the award.

In Morris’ brief remarks, he spoke about the role of education in social progress and his upbringing.

“I encourage you – young, old and others – to please pursue your dreams, meet the challenges of education and change this world in a way that I never can,” Morris said.

Gov. Scott Walker was present at the ceremony, but kept his introductory remarks brief.

“It is easy to stand up for what you believe in when that belief is popular or receives strong support from others. It is much more difficult to do so in the face of constant criticism,” Walker said. “But, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. did just that, refusing to abandon his ideals because, ‘The time is always right to do what is right,’” Walker said in a prepared statement Monday.

Walker, who proclaimed Monday The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day in Wisconsin, also attended the 20th Annual Dr. Martin Luther King Celebratory Breakfast in Milwaukee on Monday morning.

Later Monday, a speaker at a Martin Luther King Jr. Day event in Milwaukee called for more urgency to tackle problems in the city.

Brian Verdin, a sociology instructor at the Milwaukee Area Technical College, told 200 people at a church Monday afternoon that gun violence, particularly among younger men, needs to be addressed.

“It seems like we can’t go a week without one of these young boys who have lost their minds in our own city killing somebody needlessly,” Verdin said. “And then I’m sure enough of you had arguments with these so-called Second Amendmenters that guns don’t kill people. Yeah, they do.”

One of the people honored at the Milwaukee event served as an usher at King’s funeral in 1968 and said the experience all those years ago gave him a closer look at King’s legacy.

“It made me see what one individual endured. It made me internalize that struggle of that one individual,” said Fred Reed, who was in a Milwaukee youth group that traveled to Atlanta, Georgia, for King’s funeral.

King’s colleague, Rev. Ralph Abernathy, chose Reed to be an usher. Reed had never seen so many people in one location, he said of the funeral.

At a separate Martin Luther King Jr. community service event at a Milwaukee middle school, U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin told student and adult volunteers, “Dr. King taught us the power of working toward something that is bigger than ourselves.”

“With the changes in Washington D.C. that are before us, it is my hope that all of our leaders will hear these words, and be guided by Dr. King’s proclamation that injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere,” Baldwin said.

Editor’s Note: This story was last updated at 5:05 p.m. Monday, Jan. 16.