“It’s important every year,” he said. “We must be reminded that civil rights never stop, and the challenge for equality should never stop. This year we’re saying the same thing. We must keep going, we must be visible, so folks will know that the challenge is still before us.”
Davis said he tries each year to get more people involved, but “apathy has set in in this country” and “it spreads down through the states and the cities.”
“Regardless of what other people are doing, it’s important that we continue this,” Davis said.
In Middletown, community members gathered for a free breakfast sponsored by Middletown NAACP No. 3194 at the Woodside Cemetery & Arboretum community room.
Keynote speaker, Norman Spencer, president of Kettering Health Hamilton, touched on the health and state of the local Black community and Dr. King’s vision of a “beloved community.”
Credit: Bryn Dippold
Credit: Bryn Dippold
“(MLK) mentioned that a beloved community was a community (that) required qualitative change in the soul, and qualitative change in our lives,” Spence said.
He said this happens internally and externally and connecting with the community is vital.
“By connecting with people, being there for people, having meaningful connections, is helpful for your life,” Spence said.
He added the Civil Rights movement wasn’t “just one person, it was a ... collective community.”
Middletown NAACP chapter President Celeste Didlick-Davis encouraged attendees to sit with someone they didn’t know and discuss at least one personal goal to help themselves and the community.
“If we’re not healthy, we can’t project or portray healthy behavior to our community,” she said.
Credit: Bryn Dippold
Credit: Bryn Dippold
In West Chester and Liberty townships, community members marched in the 27th annual “Live the Dream: Our Declaration of Unity” community-wide celebration,
Marching from one side of the border between the two townships to the other and through the Liberty Center retail and residential complex, a group braved the bitter cold to to honor MLK Jr.’s legacy.
Gail Webster, longtime organizer of the annual events, said march and celebration help strengthen the bonds between two of Butler County’s largest and fastest-growing townships.
Credit: Nick Graham
Credit: Nick Graham
“West Chester and Liberty townships are already joined at the hip through the Lakota schools,” said Webster.
“We are neighbors who live, work, learn, play and worship together all the time. It makes sense to continue and to encourage unity so that both townships are strengthened by what each one has to offer.”
Credit: Journal News
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