MLK Holiday More Than a Day Off by Lea Johnson 21St Space Wing Public Affairs Staff Writer
COMMANDER’S CORNER: LEADERSHIP ON THE BIG SCREEN - PAGE 3 Peterson Air Force Base, Colorado Thursday, January 31, 2013 Vol. 57 No. 3 MLK holiday more than a day off By Lea Johnson 21st Space Wing Public Affairs staff writer PETERSON AIR FORCE BASE, Colo. — People from a variety of ethnic backgrounds gathered at the chapel, Jan. 16, to honor the man who played a significant role in the fight for equality. The 2013 Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Commemorative Service was held just days before the Jan. 21 holiday and one day after what would have been King’s 84th birthday. Retired Chief Master Sgt. Joan Johnson was the guest speaker for the ceremony. “Today we are here to remember, celebrate and act. Remember his work and legacy. Celebrate his birthday and how far we’ve come as a nation. Act by becoming involved to continue his work,” Johnson said. On Aug. 28, 1963, King gave what would become one of the most famous speeches in American history — “I Have a Dream.” Johnson said the speech proceeded the famous March on Washington. “This was a peaceful demonstration with over 250,000 people in attendance, a quarter of them white,” she said. King’s speech, the final speech of the day, was only sup- posed to be four minutes, but it lasted 16. “Dr. King started by saying that 100 years ago President Lincoln had signed the Emancipation Proclamation, which freed slaves. But yet 100 years later the Negro was still not free. The Negro was still facing segregation, discrimina- tion, and living in poverty in a world filled with so much prosperity,” Johnson said.
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