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| Hundreds attend MLK celebration |
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| News - Community News | |||
| Written by Angie Anaya Borgedalen | |||
| Thursday, 22 January 2009 01:00 | |||
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Editor’s note: Photos from last year’s Martin Luther King Jr. Day events at William Jewell College were inadvertently published with an earlier version of this online story and on the front page of the Thursday, Jan. 22, edition of the Liberty Tribune. Historic inauguration invokes memories, message of hope There was lots of singing, clapping and ahem shouting as a multiracial crowd estimated at more than 500 gathered to joyously celebrate Martin Luther King Jr. Day at William Jewell College Monday, Jan. 19.  Whether “The Dream: No Longer Deferred,” the theme of the program, had been achieved was ambivalent from listening to a panel of four, but the significance of the event held on the eve of then President-elect Barack Obama’s inauguration was not lost on the crowd. William Jewell student Frank Ogochukwo in a tribute to King said his parents, born in Nigeria and now citizens of the U.S., voted for the first time for Obama. Watching his parents fulfillment of King’s pivotal “I have a dream” speech. “I can only imagine the pride Dr. King would have in seeing Barack Obama elected,” Ogochukwo said. “I think Dr. King would be happy,” said the Rev. Tony Johnson, pastor of First Baptist Church in Liberty who gave the closing prayer. The celebration marked the 25th annual observance of Martin Luther King Jr. Day in Liberty. King was gone to support a garbage workers strike. A highlight of the two-hour program was the presentation of the 2009 Martin Luther King Jr. community service award to Fred Merrill, retired football coach; Joanie New, volunteer; Dr. Cynthia Green, William Jewell professor of education; and Bethany Brown, William Jewell student. Former councilman Sam Houston, a founder of Liberty’s first Martin Luther King Jr. celebration, was also recognized for his contributions to the community. Choir director Dr. Arnold Epley was surprised with a plaque honoring his contributions for keeping the artistry of the American Negro spiritual alive. Epley said he grew up in Birmingham, Ala., and heard on the radio that people in their 70s and 80s were going to Washington, D.C., without tickets or accommodations for the inauguration. Quoting from a gospel song that the choir performed, Epley said, “I will go, I shall go to see what the end will be.” He said, “They just want to stand in the place where this is happening.”
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exercise that right, Ogochukwo said was a 
assassinated April 4, 1968, in Memphis, Tenn., where he had 
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