“As I see people in the community come together, I believe there is a brighter future,” said Styles, who will make a presentation at today’s MLK event at Rosa Parks Elementary School. “It’s great to see people come together and stand united.”
When Styles walks the halls of the district, and has extended conversations with students, he believes what King preached decades ago is “alive more than ever” today.
He said the students “have dreams in life and they need to carry that message forward.”
Styles said he sees people standing shoulder-to-shoulder for the betterment of the community.
“If that’s not what King stood for, I don’t know what is,” he said.
Mathews, better known as “Pastor Shaq,” grew up on Martin Luther King Boulevard in Hamilton, and she remembers messages often delivered from her grandmother, Mary Thurmond: “It’s an honor to live here.”
As a black leader in the city, Mathews often thinks of the “sacrifices” the Civil Rights leader made. She sometimes uses that as fuel for her drive and determination, she said.
“I feel honored about his legacy,” said Mathews, a 1998 Hamilton High School graduate who last year was named the city’s Citizen of the Year. “He didn’t look at color, he didn’t look at gender. He just looked at us as people, regardless of where we came from or where we were headed.”
Pastor Michael Bailey from Faith United Church in Middletown calls King “the chosen one.”
When asked why, he said: “We all have assignments. Some of us try to reach the poor, some of try to reach those addicted to drugs, some of us try to reach those who are unemployed. It’s our assignment to make life a little better. His assignment was ‘justice for all.’”
Because King had the ability to speak to an entire nation, he was “a beacon of hope” around the world, Bailey said.
Every Martin Luther King Jr. Day, Bailey thinks about King’s surviving relatives and how his death changed their lives forever.
Then Bailey takes a moment and “measures my work.” He asks himself if he’s doing his the best to fulfill his assignment, he said.
MARTIN LUTHER KING JR. DAY EVENTS
- Atrium Medical Center will host a Martin Luther King Jr. Day program from 11 a.m. to noon today in the auditorium, One Medical Center Drive in Middletown. The program's guest speaker will be Bennyce Hamilton, regional director of Diversity & Multicultural Services and Deputy Title IX Coordinator at Miami University. The free program is open to the community.
- Rosa Parks Elementary School in Middletown is the site of MLK program from 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. today. Workshops will include the role of community in education, financial literacy and credit, human trafficking in our midst and community development. Special presentation by Marlon Styles, school superintendent. Free and open to public.
Oxford MLK Jr. Day Community Celebration, 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. today, Armstrong Center Pavilion, 550 E. Spring St.
West Chester Twp.: Live the Dream: Our Declaration of Unity, march begins at 10:30 a.m. today at the Clocktower at the Square at Union Centre. Celebration of Unity Expo held from 10:15 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. at Lakota West High School, 8940 Union Centre Blvd.
Hamilton MLK March, 11 a.m. from the Booker T. Washington Community Center, 1140 S. Front St. to Pilgrim Baptist Church.
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