Rev. King’s legacy lives on in celebration of song

Published 11:13 pm Friday, January 15, 2010

EVERETT — Retired third-grade teacher Armelda Brack never met the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., but she plans to sing in a choir that bears his name during an annual celebration of his legacy on Sunday at First United Methodist Church.

The idea for the Martin Luther King Jr. Celebration was sparked by then-Gov. Booth Gardner, who called Second Baptist Church and asked if church leaders would start a community celebration in King’s honor. Pastor Mathew McSwain said he would and called together other black pastors from several local churches to help. In 1986, the first celebration occurred at First Baptist Church of Everett.

Brack participated then and has been actively involved in every celebration since.

“We decided we’d do this as long as the church exists,” she said. “We really love doing this.”

Over time, she said, the celebration has grown to include different faith organizations and the community. Today, the celebration is organized by a coalition of faith-based organizations.

Celebration chairman Fredrick Bletson has also been involved since the first celebration. This year’s event will continue to maintain the integrity of past programs, he said.

“We made sure we’ll have a program of such where our community will again be exposed to and learn about he legacy of this great man, Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King,” he said.

As this year’s chairman of the event, Bletson endeavored to include every one in the celebration.

“I believe involving other faiths, other people is keeping with Dr. King’s dream of all people appreciating what it’s like to be included,” he said. “We spend a lot of time talking about diversity, and that’s good, but I firmly believe his dream was more leading to an inclusive position where we understand the differences but we also appreciate when everyone is included.”

The program will feature youth presentations, he said, as well as keynote speaker, Jeanette Davis Loeb, the founder of Rising Oak Foundation in Seattle. It’s a nonprofit foundation she started four years ago to support the development of boys of African descent.

The 25th anniversary Martin Luther King Day celebration will include plenty of music, according to the Rev. Gregory Jackson, director of the MLK Celebration Choir.

“One thing people can expect is some really good music,” he said. “We have some very gifted musicians.”

Jackson will lead the choir and play the keyboard during the event. Musician Demetrius Allen will perform on bass guitar while Dominique Allen and Justice Jackson will play the drums. Larry Hill will play the trumpet, Dean Morley will play lead guitar and pastor Garrick Pang will perform on the saxophone. About 25 people are part of the choir that began practicing for the event in October.

“We may be of different denominations and have different beliefs but we’re all singing gospel music together,” Jackson said.

Every year, he said, more people attend the celebration and remember King’s dream.

“We not only want to have a good celebration but it’s also an awakening and awareness to the public and all men and women of every race and gender and creed that Martin Luther King’s dream was not in vain,” he said. “We want to convey the message that although we are different we are all the same, and even though we don’t necessarily agree with each other’s way of thinking we can respect each other.”

Amy Daybert: 425-339-3491, adaybert@heraldnet.com.