Dr. King honored at MLK Center in Rockville Centre

Dozens gathered at the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Community Center in Rockville Centre on Monday to celebrate the birthday of the center’s namesake, a man who dedicated his life to advocating for equality. The program included song and dance performances by local residents — including children enrolled in the after-school program — interspersed with video footage of King’s speeches.

“We’re here to pay tribute and honor to the legacy of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.,” Patrick Morris, executive director of the MLK Center told the audience. “Hopefully, you came inspired and will leave motivated.

“Our goal today,” Morris continued, “is to entertain, but mostly educate our young people that the freedom and liberty that they enjoy came from struggles and sacrifice. Hopefully this will lead to networking, communication and future endeavors so we can plan to keep Dr. King’s dream alive.”

State Assemblywoman Judy Griffin read a quote of King’s meant to inspire people to “be better” and help others. She said she believes that the MLK Center is one of the “most special places” to celebrate King and his legacy.

“It’s so important that we take the time to honor this inspirational leader each year, and take the time to teach our young children the same,” Griffin said. “As we’ve seen through Dr. King’s struggles, through his activism, he taught us so many lessons that still reverberate today — messages of love, peace, friendship, equality, justice. Those messages never go out of style and in today’s world, sometimes we need to heed those messages and pay attention even more.”

Morris said that the MLK Center strives to educate children regularly about influential black leaders. A 1988 graduate of South Side High School, Morris lamented that the teaching of black history is limited in public schools. 

“When I was in high school, black history was pretty much glazed over,” Morris said, noting how it was limited to Dr. King, civil rights, Rosa Parks and slavery, which shaped his view of being black while growing up. “For a black child, that really played with your self-esteem. That’s why it’s important for us to have these types of programs — so we can bring out the positivity and pride of being black.”

The program included clips of King’s speech at the Bloody Sunday march in Selma. Children in the after- school program performed a song and the audience heard the mother-daughter duet of Amanda and Arianna Mclean. Elyse Rodriguez did an interpretive dance to King’s “I Have a Dream” speech, under the direction of Tjuana Evans of Dance Empress Studios.

Deputy Mayor Kathy Baxley spoke about King’s beliefs and how important the MLK Center has been to keeping his message alive and relevant.

“The MLK Center serves as a neighborhood gathering place and strives to provide residents of Rockville Centre with the tools and knowledge to support their dreams,” Baxley said. “It’s important that we remind ourselves that progress did not come easily, and although we have come a far way, there is still a lot of work to be done and we must press on. Dr. King’s wisdom will remain a guiding light in each of us. Let us seek ways to improve our community and motivate those around us to get involved. By taking these selfless actions we can help to keep his dream alive and make a positive impact within our own community.”

Toward the end of the program, a clip of King’s “I’ve Been to the Mountaintop” speech played on the television screen, followed by children in the afterschool program performing a newscast of his assassination. The program concluded with footage of the news of his death on April 4, 1968, and a montage of images and inspiring words set to Michael Jackson’s “Man in the Mirror.” 

Among the attendees were members of Raising Voices, the Anti-Racism Project, Molloy College Lions and Trustee Nancy Howard.