Danville’s annual Martin Luther King Jr. celebration service was still held on Monday despite it being an online-only service, and much of the message was still the same.
A group of about 20 people, mostly participants in the service, were the only ones allowed inside the St. James United Methodist Church sanctuary, but they were joined by 1,100 others watching on Facebook Live.
Bishop Frank Beard of the Illinois Great Rivers Conference of the United Methodist Church delivered the keynote address. He spoke about his youth in Arkansas and Indiana, noting how separate codes existed in both places. Speaking about events that took place in the last few months, he says people have to realize the racism still exists.
“Discrimination and racism were real then, and it’s sad to say that they are alive and well today,” Beard explaines. “There is such a thing as systemic racism, and we’ve got to face that fact, or we will never defeat it.”
Mayor Rickey Williams Jr. spoke about how 2020 was not what people expected, and that 2021 hasn’t started much better. Despite this, he says the community can still prosper because, he says, everyone wants others to be able to succeed.
“We want what’s best for everyone,” he says. “We want equality. We work towards equality, and we serve out brothers and sisters regardless of any status they may have.”
The MLK service also featured solos by the Reverend Michael Hall and Kelly Holden. A $4,000 scholarship was awarded to Caleb Campbell, a senior at Danville High School, and the audience joined in singing the anthem “Lift Every Voice and Sing.”
(Caleb Campbell was awarded a $4,000 scholarship from the MLK committee.)
