The beauty of Sunday’s Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. memorial celebration began with the triumphant voices of the singers of Voices of Unity and ended with the keynote speaker, the Rev. Marc Thompson of Unity Baptist Church in Mattituck.
In between, Rylee Smith, a student at Greenport High School, brought the crowd at the Peconic Lane recreation center to its feet with her reading of Dr. King’s “I Have a Dream” speech.
The annual event celebrating Dr. King’s birthday was sponsored by the Southold Town Anti-Bias Task Force. The rec center was filled when the event began at 4 p.m., and soon people were standing in the back.
The Rev. Natalie Wimberly of Greenport’s Clinton Memorial AME Zion Church began the ceremony by speaking of Dr. King’s messages of hope and non-violence, “qualities that shaped his life.”
Town Board member Brian Mealy — the first Black member of the board — spoke, as did Greenport Mayor Kevin Stuessi, who recalled how the Rev. Wimberly “held the community together” after the 2020 murder in Minneapolis of George Floyd.
“It’s all about working together,” Mr. Stuessi said. “It’s about opening doors of opportunity for others. There is no time to waste.”
The Rev. Thompson, who was recently named pastor of the Mattituck church, began his remarks by saying, “If we stand together, we can’t be moved.” Those words were his theme , which centered on Dr. King’s commitment to non-violence and his determination to make profound change.
“We must love our neighbor as ourselves,” the Rev. Thompson said. “His decision to take the non-violent path was the correct decision.”
The ceremony ended with dance and a benediction from Rabbi Shaya Hurwitz of Chabad of the North Fork in Mattituck.