Pontiac Community Honors 
Martin Luther King Jr (video)
(Crystal A. Proxmire, Jan. 18, 2016)
Pontiac, MI – “I pray today that everybody who stands here today doesn’t just take this as another day off of work, but as a day to truly reflect and look back, and say ‘what can I do this year to be more like Dr. Martin Luther King Jr?”
The sentiment came from Councilperson Kermit Williams as he spoke at a ceremony held Monday 
at McLaren Hospital in Pontiac in honor of the slain civil rights activist.
“If King was living he’d probably be in Flint right now. As we’re celebrating 2016 people are still delivering water because the fight still continues,” Williams said. “It’s one thing to reflect and say MLK lived a great life, and all the accomplishments he made. As the Mayor said, there is struggle. He spent many days in a jail cell, many days doing unpopular things that we still have to do today. So one of the key legacies that don’t speak about every day is speaking truth to power. Where there’s injustice, where there’s corruption, [where] there’s things that are not right, even here in the city of Pontiac, we have to continue to speak out. We also have to continue to do it as Martin Luther King Jr. did it, with love and compassion.”
The event started with a chilly walk from the Phoenix Center to the hospital, with those most 
dedicated to the tradition willing to shiver a bit to make sure that the banner with Dr. King’s name on it made it to the ceremony. There the lobby was filled with people and the event was filled with short speeches and performances.
Odessa McClellan of the Greater Pontiac Coalition helped organize the parade. When asked why she said “Because it is Martin Luther King and he’s a great speaker for nonviolence for our community and for our country, and so I want to keep up his legacy.”
Mayor Deidre Waterman remarked “Freedom comes from getting out on frosty mornings and remembering the struggle.”
For more of the program, check out the video below…
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