LANCASTER, Pa. — Members of the Lancaster community honored the legacy of the late Reverend Doctor Martin Luther King Jr. Sunday night, as the congregations' echoes of "Lift Every Voice" flowed through Holy Trinity Lutheran Church.
Among them was African American Culture Alliance President Vincent Smith.
"We as a community have to come together 365 days a year to have a dream," Smith declared. "We have to ensure the dream is living, and that we fight as a community."
He says it’s a day-in and day-out commitment to change.
"Even though Martin Luther King's birthday is tomorrow, we celebrate his legacy every day," Smith said. "It was not a one-day victory or one-day celebration."
On the eve of Martin Luther King Jr. Day, the Lancaster branch of the NAACP held its 44th annual MLK Commemoration Service.
Branch President Blanding Watson says the organization wants to keep that goal alive.
"We want to educate and empower individuals in the community so that things that are relevant to Martin Luther King's legacy and all that he was for are not lost," Watson said. "Our communities, black, brown and other diverse communities, things relevant to economics, housing, legal redress, civil rights and social justice."
The service featured music and prayer and was highlighted by keynote speaker Reverend Roland Forbes from Ebenezer Baptist Church in Lancaster.
"Give us a chance to blaze our own trail," Reverend Forbes proclaimed in part of his address. "Even if the consequences are us laying our life down for one another, we still won’t back down."
The service, Watson says, is a starting point for a larger effort.
"We need to continue to have conversations in our communities and dialogue on the things that we need to work on," Watson said.
It's work that happens every day.
"It shows that we have made progress," Smith continued. "But, it also shows that we've got a long way to go.”
Below is a list of other local events happening this Monday:
Lancaster County
MLK Breakfast | 7 a.m. - 10 a.m. at the Student Memorial Center at Millersville University
Dauphin County
MLK Resource Fair | 10 a.m. - 1:30 p.m. at the Greater Zion Missionary Baptist Church
MLK Day of Reading | 11 a.m. - 1 p.m. at the Steelton Borough Frederick Douglas Municipal Building
MLK Day of Service | 9:30 a.m. - 11 a.m. at the Susquehanna Township High School Cafeteria
- MLK Banquet | 5:30 p.m. at the Hershey Lodge in Derry Township
York County
42nd Annual "Living the Dream" Award Celebration | 8 a.m. at the Crispus Attucks York Community Center
Franklin County
MLK Day of Service | 8 a.m. at the Franklin County Visitors Bureau