On Sunday, Jan. 19, Newton County held the fortieth Annual Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Vacation Observance at Newton Excessive College.
Since 1985, Newton County has assembled an annual committee of native leaders who plan a ceremony honoring Martin Luther King, Jr.’s legacy and influence in the neighborhood. The celebration is deliberate in coincidence with Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, which is well known annually on the third Monday in January.
“For us to proceed this for 40 years, that’s generations of Newton County standing as much as say, we select love over hate,” stated James Wilson, a member of the celebration committee. “And so forth at the present time, that is what that is all about. It is all about selecting love over hate, selecting justice over evil, selecting unity over division.”
This yr’s keynote speaker was Gerald Griggs, president of the Georgia State Convention of the Nationwide Affiliation for the Development of Coloured Folks (NAACP). Griggs can also be the president of the Atlanta chapter of the NAACP and a co-founder of the Georgia Alliance for Social Justice.
Three awards had been offered on the ceremony: the ‘I Have a Dream Award,’ the ‘Younger Dreamer Award’ and the ‘Legacy Award.’
The ‘I Have a Dream Award’ is offered annually to somebody who’s a pillar and servant of the Newton County group. Different necessities embrace being a registered voter and being somebody who has had a dream they labored to convey to actuality within the spirit of King’s well-known “I Have a Dream” speech.
This yr, the I Have a Dream Award was offered to longtime Newton County resident Avis Williams. In accordance with Wilson, Williams is understood in the neighborhood for her service, notably by way of her work with Oxford School of Emory College and the Oxford metropolis council.
The Younger Dreamer Award is an honor recognizing college students within the college system who, each within the classroom and in common day-to-day life, show a dedication to peace, love, justice and unity.
Three college students had been honored as Younger Dreamers at this yr’s ceremony: Adriana Anne Drain, Sani McKenzie Thomas and Karain Christmas.
The Legacy Award is a posthumous award that acknowledges somebody whose efforts in life deserve additional recognition even after their passing. The award was created after the demise of Almond Turner, who served Newton County as a faculty board member and town of Covington as assistant police chief in his lifetime.
The 2025 recipient of the Legacy Award is Stoney Hamm, who handed in October 2024. Hamm was the primary Black hearth chief for town of Covington.
In accordance with Wilson, a former recipient of the Younger Dreamer Award himself, the planning committee begins preparations for the celebration in November after which spends weeks of unpaid effort and time getting ready this system. They then choose a keynote speaker, arrange musical performances and open up nominations for the awards.
“That is actually a labor of affection, and it is one thing that the group must be happy with as a result of it does take a variety of work,” Wilson stated. “That is weeks and weeks of labor that persons are doing to come back and actually exhibit how a lot they care about this legacy, how a lot they care about this work, how a lot they care about this group.”
Gail Slaton is chair of the committee, who Wilson says is phenomenal.
“Particular recognition all the time has to go to her as a result of this takes a variety of dedication on her half—a variety of monetary dedication, a variety of psychological and emotional dedication,” Wilson stated.
Every year, the ceremony is full of commemorative organizations and teams that participate in making the celebration particular. This yr, the Newton Excessive College Sound Manufacturing facility and Anointed to Dance carried out, in addition to the MLK Interdenominational Choir and the Washington Road Kids’s Choir.
Quite a few metropolis and county officers attended the ceremony as properly, together with Newton County Board of Commissioners Chairman Marcello Banes, Covington Mayor Fleeta Baggett, Newton County Sheriff Ezell Brown, Newton County Colleges Superintendent Duke Bradley III and Oxford School of Emory College Dean Badia Ahad.
With this being the fortieth yr of the MLK Vacation Observance, the occasion has completed nothing however develop.
In accordance with Wilson, yearly brings new challenges and obstacles, however persevering with to have a good time King’s legacy for 4 a long time symbolizes a larger group dedication to his values and rules.
“The countywide dedication that we’ve got, not solely to honoring the lifetime of a person, however actually honoring the issues that he stood for,” Wilson stated. “The concept that all males are created equal, the concept we must be judged not by what we appear to be, however by the content material of our character.”
