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Unity
Celebration to Recognize 50th Anniversary of “I
Have a Dream” Speech
Special to The Truth
It has been 50 years since Martin Luther King Jr. said those
famous words, “I have a dream.”
On Martin Luther King Jr. Day, the Toledo community will
gather at The University of Toledo to honor his vision of
equality in a “Defending the Dream” Unity Celebration.
The 13th annual Martin Luther King, Jr. Unity
Celebration will be 9 a.m. Monday, Jan. 20 in Savage Arena
on the UT Main Campus. The event is free and open to the
public.
“Dr. King’s iconic address about unity, equality, freedom
and justice would change the course of this great nation,”
UT President Lloyd Jacobs said. “I believe it is the role of
great universities like The University of Toledo to ensure
the dream is within reach for all today and as the spirit of
Dr. King’s life lives on into the future.”
“Defending the Dream is an appropriate theme to honor the
life of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.and the 50th anniversary
of this historic speech, we as a Nation and as a City have
not succeeded in making all of Dr. King's dream come
true," Toledo Mayor D. Michael Collins said. “We have made
progress, but we still have work to do to be able to
'transform the jangling discords of our nation into a
beautiful symphony of brotherhood.' I believe the different
parts of the orchestra are in tune, they are expert in their
own scores but it will require more effort on all of our
parts to obtain that beautiful symphony, one that we long to
hear in our lifetime.”
The 2014 Unity Celebration will feature remarks by Toledo
NAACP President Ray Wood, in addition to President Jacobs
and Mayor Collins.
The Toledo Interfaith Mass Choir, Toledo Community Youth
Choir and the MADD Poet Society will perform, and the 2014
MLK Scholarship recipients will be recognized.
Kristian Brown, 13 ABC reporter and anchor, and Tony Rios
Jr., founder and executive producer of Tony Rios Enterprises
Inc. Hispanic broadcast media and entertainment agency, will
emcee the event.
WGTE Public Television will broadcast the event, which will
conclude by 10:30 a.m. A free community luncheon will follow
the ceremony.
Attendees are encouraged to bring a canned good that will be
donated to the MLK Kitchen for the Poor, 650 Vance St. in
downtown Toledo.
Leading up to the celebration, a number of events will be
held on UT’s campus as part of Unity Week that begins at
noon Monday, Jan. 13 with a Unity Week rally. The
documentary “Freedom Riders” will be shown Tuesday, Jan. 14
at 10 a.m., 1 p.m. and 4 p.m. in Student Union Room 2591 and
the Unity Lock-In will be 6-11 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 16.
The Unity Celebration is organized by a committee with
co-chairmen Shanda Gore, Ed.D, UT associate vice president
of equity, diversity and community engagement, and Rosalinda
Contreraz-Harris, executive director of the Toledo Youth
Commission.
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