'Remembering Martin and Coretta' event held in Gainesville as part of King Celebration
The lives and legacies of the late Coretta Scott King and the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. were again honored and celebrated Tuesday night as part of King Celebration activities in Gainesville.
Brothers of the Nu Eta Lambda chapter of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity Inc. and sisters of the Mu Upsilon Omega chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority Inc. gathered at DaySpring Baptist Church to pay homage to the iconic couple who stood together at the forefront of the civil rights movement in the 1950s and '60s. Coretta Scott King was a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha and Martin Luther King Jr. was a member of Alpha Phi Alpha.
“We are here to pay tribute to a trailblazing couple,” said C. Ann Scott, a sponsor of the event, as she greeted those in attendance.
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Scott, an honorary member of the MLK Commission of Florida Inc. who organizes most King Celebration activities annually in Gainesville, ended her greetings with a quote from Coretta Scott King that states, “The greatness of a community is based on compassionate actions by its members.”
The invocation was given by DaySpring Minister Reshone Flanders.
“We have went through a storm and we are still standing,” Flanders said. “We thank you for life, health and strength. Help us to remember the purpose of why we’re here. Thank you for the forefathers who brought justice and righteousness. Thank you for what they stood for and we know that they stood on your word. Let us stand on the history we have.”
Justice Alexander, the 2024 Edna M. Hart Keeper of the Dream Scholarship Award recipient, welcomed the audience to the tribute.
“They (King Commission) have made it their mission to uphold the mission of Dr. King and his wife,” Alexander said. “It is important for us as a community to come here today to reflect on those who came before us.”
Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority member Tia Stover recited a poem written by Chaz Young titled “God is a Black Woman.”
Darryl Anderson, president of the Nu Eta Lambda chapter of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, gave a brief introduction of Martin Luther King Jr. Anderson said the fraternity was founded in 1906 and King pledged into the Sigma chapter as a graduate student at Boston University in 1952.
“In his life, he upheld our deeds through scholarship and love for all mankind,” Anderson said.
After Anderson’s introduction, six of his fraternity brothers joined him in front of the audience and spoke in first-person narration about the history of King.
This year’s King National Holiday will be observed, as usual, on the third Monday of January, which this year will be on his actual birthday of Jan. 15. King, who would have turned 95 this year, was born in 1929 and was assassinated by James Earl Ray on April 4, 1968, on a balcony at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis.
King rose to national prominence as head of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, which promotes nonviolent tactics. He delivered his famous “I Have a Dream” speech during the March on Washington in August 1963. Also, his work and the work of other civil leaders of the time led to the passing of the federal Civil Rights Act of 1964, Voting Rights Act of 1965 and Fair Housing Act of 1968.
He was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1964 and, at age 35, was the youngest person at that time to have achieved the honor.
King met his wife, who was studying at the New England Conservatory of Music, in Boston while pursing a doctorate degree in theology.
They married in 1953 and had four children.
Coretta Scott was born on April 27, 1927, in Heilberger, Alabama, and died Jan. 30, 2006, in Rosarito, Mexico.
She advocated for racial equality and women’s rights.
She founded the King Center in Atlanta in 1968 and worked to make her husband’s birthday a national holiday, which was signed into law by former President Ronald Reagan in 1983.
Retired Rev. Dr. Geraldine McClellan gave a brief history of Coretta Scott King and sorority sisters of the Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. spoke about her history.
“The legacy lives on,” McClellan said. “If we just move without each other, there’s nothing we can do, but together we can forge ahead. May the work they have done speak loud within us.”