Brownwood News – The Revitalizing Our Community (ROC) organization held it’s ninth Dr. Martin Luther King Day celebration event this morning in Cecil Holman Park.  Good weather and a larger venue resulted in the largest crowd in the event’s history, as approximately 500 persons attended.  For the first eight years the event was held at MLK Plaza on West Commerce.  But the larger crowds, and the need for more space for COVID distancing, necessitated the move.  Event organizer and Mayor Pro Tem Draco Miller said future MLK Day events would also be held in Holman Park.

The theme for this year’s celebration was a quote from Dr. King:  “The time is always right, to do what is right.”

Welcoming remarks were provided by Sereta Spratt Delgado, Secretary of ROC.  “Dr. King was an ordinary man.  He dedicated his life for purpose and belief for change against extraordinary opposition.  We have an obligation and a responsibility in 2021 to rise to the occasion.  The Time is Always Right to Do What is Right.  Dr. King fought for the greater good for all, not with weapons, but with love and faith.”

The Keynote Speaker was Howard Payne University President Dr. Cory Hines.  He referred to the theme, and said Dr. King spoke those words in an address at Oberlin College in 1964.  “When Dr. King stood before the crowd that day on October 22, 1964, he must have felt a sense of urgency to call to create an America where all God’s children could live peacefully with one another, while at the same time saddened by the lack of unity he saw around him.

“On this day, January 18, 2021, I would hope we feel much like Dr. King did on that day.  Now, more than ever, our country needs to unite.  On one hand we need to look back at the words of Dr. King on that October day, and be grateful for his words and his call to action.  But on the other hand, we need to push forward and actively do our part and hope we shape our country, our county, and our community to be more loving, accepting, caring, and forgiving of one another.”

Other remarks from Dr. Hines:  “Although we do not know what this year will bring us, what we do know is we are the ones who get to choose how we respond to the events we will face this year.  Regardless of your skin color, or political leanings, or religious preference, as a country, as a county, as a community, we have a long way to go to become the world that I think all of us want.  But rather than look outwardly, and rather than point the finger at all that’s wrong and needs to change, I hope you will join me in looking inwardly, and ask yourself what can I do to make our world a place that is full of people who think it is Always the Right Time, to do What is Right.”

“It’s not up to the government, it’s not up to the churches, it’s not up to our community.  But it’s up to us individually to make our community a better place, and it starts with you.  Make a commitment today to be a person of change.  Be someone who listens.  Be someone who treats others the way you want to be treated.  Be that person whose life can be described as someone who found a way, when they were here on this earth, to Do What is Right.”

Also making brief remarks were Texas State Representative Dr. Glenn Rogers and Brownwood Mayor Stephen Haynes.  Dr. Rogers:  “On the way in here I saw a bumper sticker that said ‘If all your prayers are answered, would it change the world?  Or just yours?’  And that really made me think.  And as I was thinking about Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., certainly his prayers were to change the world.”

Mayor Haynes:  “Unity does not occur because someone has an idea that is so flawless that no one may oppose it.  Rather, unity occurs when a people decide that unity is more important than our own selfish desires, and choose to seek it.  Unity requires self sacrifice…  I am going to go out on a limb here — and I truly believe this — that Brownwood is a bright shining star for this effect.  We do it pretty well.  In a year full of controversy, in a year full of rioting and acting out, what did we see in Brownwood Texas?  We saw peace.  We saw a people that were committed to putting the needs of the community ahead of their own selfish desires.  And we would do well as a country to model that.”