LAKE COUNTY ? Unity, diversity and ushering in a new era of hope were key points of the AmeriCorps 5th annual celebration of Martin Luther King Jr.”s birthday on Monday.
At 2 p.m., 72 Lake County residents had come through the doors of the Kelseyville High School multipurpose room to take part in the event. Children concentrated on coloring and word puzzle activities at seven stations set up around the room while Lake County performers favored onlookers with folk songs including “Let Every Voice Sing,” and “We Shall Overcome.”
“We need to examine ourselves and think what is the community not doing ? what can we do to get to know each other better? Times are getting hard, and we are going to need each other,” organizer and AmeriCorps member Angelia Markowski said as she introduced keynote speaker Aqeela El-Amin Bakheit.
Bakheit, president of the Lake County chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), spoke about her experiences with racism during her childhood in the south, about King”s legacy and about the promise of new hope to be ushered in with the Barack Obama administration.
“Because of the many struggles, the inimitable spirit embodied in Dr. Martin Luther King and many others, because of his refusal to quit, his thirst for freedom, justice and equality and his legacy which remains as a beacon to all of us ? because of all these things, a young senator from the state of Illinois was emboldened to step forward in 2007 and proudly declare his intention to run for president of the United States,” Bakheit said.
Bakheit repeatedly used the president-elect”s full name ? Barack Hussein Obama, saying, “it is a beautiful name, it has a beautiful meaning.”
Bakheit spoke of the founders of the Lake County NAACP chapter, including Rick Mayo, Gilbert Gray, A.C. Marks and Clarence Wright Sr.
“It was formed at a time when there was racism in Lake County, and there still is,” Bakheit said.
Bakheit spoke about going to a gas station in Georgia with her grandfather, where she and her young sister were not allowed to use the bathroom, and where they had to enter through the back door because of their skin color.
“I”m sure that if Martin Luther King Jr. were alive today, and many other leaders ? that they would commend Mr. Obama for his meteoric rise to presidency. They would see the culmination of all they worked and strove for, all they sacrificed for,” Bakheit said.
She said Lake County, and the nation, still has a long way to go and a lot of work to do, and cautioned attendees that president-elect Obama will need support from the community.
“I would like to remind each of you, as I remind myself, that we have the capacity to change. Remain resolute, remain determined to change your life, because change brings about change,” Bakheit said.
Contact Tiffany Revelle at trevelle@record-bee.com, or call her directly at 263-5636 ext. 37.
