Reigniting village values still possible, speaker says at MLK Day service

On the 40th anniversary of the establishment of the federal holiday for the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., it’s time to reignite the village values that King endorsed, the Rev. Regan Robinson said.

Borrowing from the song “Nobody’s Supposed to Be Here,” he asked, “What caused village values to be extinguished?”

The pastor at St. John Baptist Church in Gary, Robinson keynoted the annual King march and celebration Monday at the Hammond Civic Center.

Why, in 2023, Robinson questioned, is this country still dealing with such issues as voting rights, fair wages, equal pay for equal work, gun control and access to health care and education?

Village values, the celebration theme, Robinson said, were extinguished by elements of racism, classism, sexism, homophobia and xenophobia.

People have lost their focus, the pastor charged. Quoting from the prophet Micah, Robinson said people must “do justice, love mercy and walk humbly with your God.”

He continued, “We must start doing what God has held us to do. We’ve forgotten what it means to be humble.”

Robinson encouraged his audience to “do justice with mercy on your mind. Hammond and Northwest Indiana must hasten to understand, we are all important. In the spirit of Martin Luther King, continue to fight on, anyway.

“You have a role to play if we’re going to reignite village values,” he went on. “If we begin in our house, our block, our community, we’ll see soon ... that we can bring about a new world.”

The program began with a candlelight vigil from Freedom Plaza in Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Park. Dedicated in 2020, the park near City Hall features Freedom Plaza, with images from and information about King’s life.

Participants then marched to the Hammond Civic Center for the community commemoration. The Ministerial Alliance of Hammond & Vicinity and the city’s Department of Planning and Development sponsored the morning program.

The Rev. Orville Sanders, president of the clergy group, said King’s message of nonviolence “is as important today as it was in his lifetime. We still have a significant racial divide in this country. Indeed, there’s still much work to be done.”

Mayor Thomas M. McDermott Jr. told the crowd that included youth that King’s accomplishments came as a young man. He called King “one of the greatest Americans of all time.”

Young people carrying signs led the march to the Civic Center. Nevaeh Lamar, 11, a fifth-grader at Irving Elementary, was holding a photo of the civil rights leader. King, she said, “made sure a lot of people came together.”

Jayda Lamar, her twin sister, added, “We respect King because he was Black and he changed the laws.”

Siblings Elijah, 10, and Endia Chapman, 11, students at Jefferson Elementary, also carried signs. Endia said she learned about King at school and from her mother.

King, the girl learned, “equalized the rights for Black people. He earned the Nobel Peace Prize and he had an ‘I Have A Dream’ speech.”

The King holiday is traditionally observed on the third Monday in January as a time to reflect on King’s life and the work that remains to be done for racial equality.

In the civil rights movement, King, who was assassinated in 1968, was seen as a chief spokesman for nonviolent activism and for protesting racial discrimination at federal and state levels.

President Ronald Reagan’s administration had originally opposed the MLK holiday, citing cost concerns. But on Nov. 2, 1983, Reagan signed a bill proposed by U.S. Rep. Katie Hall, D-Gary, to create a federal holiday honoring King. The bill had passed the Senate by a 78-22 vote and the House by 338-90.

The holiday was first observed Jan. 20, 1986. Some states initially resisted MLK Day or combined it with other holidays. The holiday was officially observed in all 50 states in 2000.

Current Rep. Frank J. Mrvan, D-Highland, encouraged people to put aside their differences. “Diversity is our strength, but our power is unity,” the congressman said.

Hammond Central High School sophomore Jennifer Tamayo, 15, who led the Hammond Central Color Guard, noted, “I like how the community comes together and walks and stands with each other.”

Haley Jones, 13, an eighth-grader at Eggers Middle School, added, “It’s important to do the march because King helped African Americans get their rights.”

Jones’ sign had this MLK quote: “I have decided to stick with love. Hate is too great a burden to bear.”

“That message means a lot,” Jones said. “People have to get the right things done.”

Jones is a member of E-Girls, a leadership program for female students at Eggers. Linda Watson, a seventh-grade math teacher at Eggers, said it was important for children to participate in the MLK service because “of what Dr. King did for civil rights and that his legacy is not lost with the younger generation.”