Monday Briefing: MLK Day is celebrated in Riverhead
News-Review reporter Samantha Brix is at today’s big annual Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Breakfast sponsored by the First Baptist Church of Riverhead.
At last year’s event, the Rev. Calvin Butts, president of SUNY/Old Westbury and senior pastor at Abyssinian Baptist Church in Harlem, served as keynote speaker. During his speech, among other points, he noted that Dr. King worked to improve the lives of all people regardless of color, and denounced the profiling and stereotyping of Muslims.
“People are so worried about Muslim terrorists. What is wrong with America?” Dr. Butts asked. He said he was “a man who recognized terrorism, and it did not come with a name that sounded Middle Eastern … somebody who remembers terrorism that came with white sheets and a cross burning.”
This year’s keynote speaker is civil rights attorney Frederick Brewington. Check back at RiverheadNewsReview.com to read about his speech and see event photos.
• Samantha was also at yesterday’s MLK event organized by the East End Voters Coalition and held at the Riverhead Free Library, where Stony Brook University professor Frances Brisbane urged those in attendance to join the ongoing struggle and push forward in realizing Dr. King’s dream of achieving racial equality in America.
She also said that if a 50-year-old African-American of 1905 was alive today, he or she would not be at all shocked by the strides that have been made bridging the racial divide in the U.S., including the election of a black president, “because they knew that a God of their understanding would turn our fear into fate … our struggles into triumph.” READ MORE
• Today marks the first work day for News-Review reporter Paul Squire. He’ll be covering education, police and breaking news, and writing general assignment stories. Got a tip for Paul, or maybe just some friendly advice? Email me at [email protected] until we get Paul’s email address set up. Have a peaceful holiday.
