NAACP Middletown MLK march sets agenda to combat what troubles city

Credit: Greg Lynch

Credit: Greg Lynch

A large crowd of residents and city officials marched in a show of unity Monday to honor Martin Luther King, Jr.

The marchers sang and praised King along the route from the city building to the Second Baptist Church on S. Verity Parkway in a show of unity for a city that started 2017 with an act of violence that claimed two lives on Jan. 1.

As those participating in the march joined others at the church, Middletown Vice Mayor Dora Bronston, who was also installed as president of the NAACP, told the group it is time to heal the wounds in the city and work together to end the violence and provide hope to all citizens.

“We had a lot of support from the city for the march,” she said. “We are asking that people come forward and give information to the police that know who may have committed these crimes. It takes not only the police but the community to work together to eliminate the violence and to help solve crimes.”

With a group of 16 new officers installed, Bronston said that civil rights can partner with the city in order to find ways to solve problems.

Credit: Nick Graham

Credit: Nick Graham

“As you saw today, we have 16 members installed and we each live in different parts of the city and we are involved in different organizations and the impact will be that we are going to be more visible than ever,” Bronston said.

Jennifer Carter was installed as the Health Committee chair for the NAACP. She said it will be a priority to help Middletown deal with the issue of infant mortality.

“This is a major problem in Middletown and Butler County and one of the things we need to keep developing resources to fight,” she said.

William “Kip” Moore honored King with a energized spoken-word performance. Moore said he’s hopeful that people just don’t celebrate King’s legacy for one day, but will spend the rest of the year working to make things from education to health better in Middletown.

Residents Sue and Joe Wittman were glad to be a part of the march and the program and felt like it could be a spring board to get people engaged in order to make a difference on the community.

“I always like being a part of this,” Sue said. “I think we can all find a way to work together to help make our community better no matter what are backgrounds are. With the change in administration in Washington, we all need to work harder.”

Bishop Mark Monroe extolled the crowd to be vigilant and active in the community like Dr. King and to strive to reach out to the youth to give them guidance. Several youth performed at the event under the guidance of Dr. Celeste Davis.

Other events were held throughout the weekend, including Middletown Police Chief Rodney Muterspaw receiving the Middletown Area Ministerial Alliance's Drum Major Award.

“To be awarded anything that has Dr. King’s name attached to it is just surreal,” Muterspaw told the Journal-News. “He was such a great leader during troubled times that it is hard to put your head around it.”

Credit: Greg Lynch

Credit: Greg Lynch

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