- In 1980, The Martin Luther King Jr. Commission of Mid- Michigan was created by a group of community members and activists who were fighting for a Dr. King day to be commemorated.
- 45 years later, the commission has grown throughout my neighborhoods through community service, scholarship funds and neighborhood events like their 40th annual Day of Celebration.
- In the attached story, I spoke with MLK Commission of Mid-Michigan leaders who are still pushing their continued mission of equality 4 decades later.
(The following is a transcription of the full broadcast story)
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day is a commemorative holiday that is celebrated across the nation but my neighborhood has had the privilege of hosting the largest MLK luncheon of 40 years.
I'm your Downtown Lansing neighborhood reporter Asya Lawrence here at the Lansing Center where I attended this event and got to sit down with one neighbor has been here from the very start.
"I remember going to the speech," said Lee June.
A moment Lee June still remembers vividly.
"I was a 19 year old junior in Tuskegee at that time and if you were living during that time it was an excitement in the air." June said.
And a chance to hear from his idol, the great Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
"And then he ended it by saying "How long? not long my eyes have seen the glory" and I won't keep going but that's stuck in my mind" June said.
Lee's passion for sharing the message of Dr. King and the civil rights movement led him to the The Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Commission of Mid-Michigan, a group of our neighbors who have been dedicated to continued conversations around equality, justice and non violence for 45 years.
"The commission was first established in order to push for federal legislation for a national king holiday and when it was signed into legislation in 1986 our commission didn't disband." said Elaine Hardy, MLK Commission of Mid-Michigan chairperson.
In the decades since, they've provided Lansing neighbors with resources like hundreds of thousands of dollars in scholarships and financial support to community agencies.
"We spent time in this community really reflecting on Dr.Kings vision" Hardy said.
But this year, in light of not only the holiday but the change in administration, members of the commission say their continued mission of pushing for equality will not change.
"What we have to do today is were going to have to work under Trump, with Trump and push him for the justice agenda so our agenda is justice and that goes forth no matter whose in the White House." June said.
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