relates to fair housing, education and public accommodations,” Hawkins reflected. “But still when you really look underneath that, we’re still grappling with the issues of economic and social justice and education justice. Our children are really getting a good education if there is equity as it relates to resources and opportunities for education as well as equity in terms of hiring practices as well as opportunities for people to be able to not only access opportunities as it relates to employment, but also within the employment sector for people to be able to move up, be promoted and be treated fairly and justly. When we think about the whole notion of voting and voting rights and even though we are in the United States of America and this is a democracy, it’s unfortunate how even our public officials in their roles have really put in place things that will suppress or serve as barriers to prevent people from having access as it relates to voting. That’s the very long response to the question that you raised. But I think in many ways, while on the surface it may really seem as though things are much better — and they are — but when you really look underneath, there are definitely a society in which those who have, have and those who are really struggling. For them, in many ways, civil rights in the United States hasn’t necessarily been a part of their lives.”

Lee focused in on the inequities that continue into today, a wealth gap that keeps on growing.

“On so many fronts, it seems that we are becoming more divided as a society,” Lee said. “Gloria mentioned the economic divide between those who have and those who have not. And that gap seems to be getting bigger and bigger. I think that is just one example of how, as a country, the politics over the last 5-10 years have taken us steps backward. We just need to look at what is going on in Congress this week. It’s bewildering that a small group of lunatics are grinding our government to a halt. The other thing that I would say — I don’t know if this is on a positive note — that one of the awakenings that I have seen over the past couple of years is some awareness of just not employment and educational disparities, but also wealth and generational wealth and how that really perpetuates generation after generation of lack of access to opportunity. And I think that’s a new awakening that I see among some people. We need to be thinking much more about how we help level the playing field in that area and how wealth and opportunity pass on from generation to generation and things that we can do about that.”

Within the context of the current civil rights struggle, the City-County King Holiday Observance, our 38^th, will be held once again in person on Monday, January 16 starting at 5:15 p.m. at the Overture Center.

“I think this is a great way for us to come back to having an in-person celebration at the Overture Center with our keynote speaker being someone who really saw things unfold as it relates to the civil rights movement and the key players like Dr. King and her father, the Rev. Ralph Abernathy, hawkins said about Donzaleigh Abernathy. “One of the things that we tried very hard to do over the years and we are always competing with time and life passages as it relates to people still being alive, but we always made a concerted effort to try to bring people to Madison as our keynotes who really were a part of the civil rights movement and who worked with Dr. King or crossed paths with him because we felt as though it was a wonderful way in which we could not only introduce to some as well as for others to relive the civil rights movement. This was actually something that occurred. These are people who gave their lives or put their lives on the line so that all of us would have certain rights within this country. And so even though most of them are dying away, to have someone who as a child growing up within the movement is wonderful. I think it will also send a strong message to our young people here within the community that they can see how children can make a difference in terms of learning about things, how they can incorporate certain principles and ideals in their lives. In doing so, it definitely becomes part of how they function within society and shapes them in terms of contributions that they want to make.”

“The return to being in person also means that we will have the great pleasure of the Martin Luther King Community Choir again,” Lee added. “They will be performing. Participation in the choir is open to anyone. You don’t need to audition. You just need to show up at two rehearsals that are coming up next week. It will be wonderful to hear from the Community Choir again. We’ll also be in the Overture Rotunda before the program begins starting at 5:15 p.m. for some Freedom Song Sing-a-Long. That will be led by Tamara Stanley who will also co-lead the choir along with Leotha. We hope we will be hearing soon who the Humanitarian Awardees are for 2023. That will be exciting.”

Not everything is coming back in-person like it was before the pandemic. The Friday night Community Dinner is not being held again this year due to the health risks posed by having hundreds of people in close quarters sharing a meal. The Urban League will be honoring the Outstanding Young Person awards although it won’t be a 1,000 person event held at Edgewood High School, again due to health concerns. But area youth will be coming together again to learn about Dr. King.

“We have our youth event happening in person again at the Madison Downtown Library the day of,” Lee said. “They will come together in the afternoon. They finish with a kind of march from the library to the Overture Center and then they can participate in the Freedom Song event.”

And on Sunday, there is the MLK Ecumenical Service being held at the First Unitarian Society at 4:30 p.m.

“The Ecumenical Service itself has just been a wonderful partnership,” Lee said. “Over the years, we have coordinated or collaborated with countless different churches across the entire city. Many, many different churches have hosted the service. There will be speakers from a wide range of faiths and churches. It just really is both an opportunity to bring people together to remind them of that moral and spiritual grounding that influenced Dr. King so much. It also reminds us that this work requires us to work across our different faiths, backgrounds, communities and experiences.”

The Ecumenical Service reminds people of what it took to sustain the civil rights movement.

“The Ecumenical Service, I think, is really important because it brings people from different faiths and beliefs together,” Hawkins said. “When we really reflect on the civil rights movement, while the Baptist church played a critical role because of Dr. King and other ministers who were involved, they made a concerted effort to involve people from different walks of life, particularly from different religious or faith communities. When you really think about the March on Washington, there were people there who were not part of the Christian faith. There were people of the Jewish and Islamic faiths. I think it is really important for us to be reminded that civil rights is about all of us and there is a moral core to the civil rights movement. And the Ecumenical Service really brings home that there is that moral core to the movement.”

The King Holiday sustains many of us in our civil rights work from year to year. And it is organizations like the King Coalition that provide the framework for that sustenance to continue.