The words of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. reverberated through Rodey Theater Saturday as community members celebrated his birthday and discussed his impact on civil rights.
The 13th annual event opened with a slide show compiled by Howard Byrdsong and music with lyrics calling for a time of healing in the world.
The slides were packed with images of King as well as with men armed with machine guns, children playing together and the World Trade Center on the morning of Sept. 11.
The keynote speaker of the event was Carnis Salisbury, who told of her struggle for civil rights in Albuquerque during the 1960s.
Salisbury has been recognized in the community for her efforts to create fair housing. She was instrumental in bringing together members of the black community from various economic and social strata to join her in the battle against housing discrimination.
Salisbury emphasized that peaceful protests continue and said that many people disliked King because they believed his peaceful tactics made him a passive leader.
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"(King) simply wanted for his people the kind of things people in other cultures had at that time," Salisbury said, adding that his dream of education and wage equality could happen through the active engagement of society.
"These areas still need much improvement," Salisbury concluded in her speech. "Keep this dream alive."
Rahan Khozein, a UNM junior, said he enjoyed the event because it was a good way to remember a respectable person in history.
"Anything that I can do to learn a little bit more about him and some other things in the community, I really enjoy," he said.
Marquita Mason, a UNM graduate, said the celebration made her think about what King could have accomplished had his life been longer.
"He achieved a lot in such a short amount of time so his power and his potential were taken away at an early time in his life," she said.
The Native American Cotton Flower Dance Team also performed at the event. The father-daughter team members are Michael Abeyta, who provided the drum beat and singing, and his daughter, Tara Cotton Flower, who danced traditional Isleta Pueblo pieces.
Other contributors included storyteller Brenda Hollingsworth-Picket, flamenco guitarist and dancer Antonio Fernandez and Stephanie Nevarez with the New Hope Baptist Choir. Okinawan dance was provided by the Miyagi Nosho Ryukyu Dance and Music School and step dance teams from Albuquerque and Del Norte High Schools.
The celebration was sponsored by the Bah†'°s of Albuquerque in association with the Martin Luther King Jr. Commission.
