Harrisburg marks Martin Luther King Jr. Day

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Men and women from Harrisburg and surrounding communities came together at the Harris-Pruett Building to remember the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. as a civil rights leader, humanitarian and man of peace.

The theme of the event, "We've come a long way," echoed through the event, which was the eighth annual King event sponsored by Mt. Pleasant Missionary Baptist Church.

"I can remember a time when white people and black people in Harrisburg did not sit in fellowship, and I'm not very old," mistress of ceremonies Patricia Hodge said.

Mayor Valerie Rose Mitchell noted the same thing.

"Those people were missing out," she said.

Mitchell said she still sees some of the old racial attitudes but the climate is getting better overall, evidenced by the multiracial crowd in attendance.

"We are all a product of a fine heritage and we are all American," Mitchell said.

The Rev. Ownly Williams and the Rev. Ronald Williams, pastors of Harvest Deliverance Center and Apostolic Church of God respectively, were the guest speakers at the King breakfast. Their speeches - sermons really - fit together hand-in-glove.

Ownly Williams started by referring to Jonah 1:10-11, a reference to Jonah fleeing from the Lord and causing the seas to become tempestuous. Fleeing from the Lord can cause many kinds of tempests.

Ownly Williams remembered a lot of prejudice when he was growing up in Carrier Mills. He recalled blacks having a small seating section at the theater in town. He could not sit with white friends, although he would try from time to time. Each time the ushers would politely remind Ownly Williams and other black children who tried, to move back to the segregated section.

"But thank God we don't have a corner to sit in and we can sit with our friends," Ownly Williams said.

He also recalled a sit-in at a spaghetti place in Carrier Mills that used to sit where the old Huck's building now stands. When the owner refused to serve black children and teens, several mothers went in and sat, but the owner continued to refuse service. Finally, charges were filed and the owner lost his government job because of the flap, Ownly Williams said.

That was during the time when King was leading peaceful protests, boycotts and sit-ins across the Deep South. The civil rights movement culminated in the election of Barack Obama in 2008, Ownly Williams said.

"If Obama ran in the time of King he would have been assassinated," Ownly Williams said.

The Rev. Ron Williams began with Joshua 1:10-11, which dovetailed with Ownly Williams' remarks.

"We're closer to a better America, but we still have a little to go," Ron Williams said.

"Just like the Israelites needed Joshua, black America needed Dr. King."

Ron Williams agreed black America has come a long way, but there is still a long journey ahead. He referred to black males killing each other every day, prisons filled with minorities and lingering racism among some people of all races.