A large crowd attended the 8th Annual Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. observance Monday morning in Brownwood. Hosted at the MLK Plaza by Revitalizing Our Community (ROC), the ceremony began with the National Anthem performed by the Brownwood High School band. Members of ROC gave remarks as did Brownwood Mayor Stephen Haynes. There was special music followed by the keynote speaker, from the Brownwood Class of 1972, Val Rhodes. Though he has spent his professional career as an educator and coach in the DFW area, he shared his love for Brownwood. “I love everybody in Brownwood. I mean everybody in Brownwood. I don’t know what’s happened the last 40 something years since I’ve left, but I know one thing. I had a great start in Brownwood,” Rhodes said.
Val Rhodes brings the keynote address Monday in Brownwood.
He went on to share a tribute to Dr. King. “He focused his work on the racial divide in the United States and his words of wisdom have universal application. He was one of the many leaders to end segregation and counter prejudice in the U.S. through means of peaceful protests,” Rhodes said. He wove humor into his stories and shared some of his experience as an educator. He reminded the crowd that Dr. King called on all of us to reject prejudices and be aware of the humanity and beauty of all people, regardless of stereotypical images and the color of people’s skin. “King’s life had a seismic impact on America and world society. His life, work and legacy have been honored with winning the Nobel Peace Prize, a national holiday, a national memorial in D.C., a national historical park in Atlanta. There will be tributes all over this nation today. There will be parades, there will be speeches, there will be basketball games. But my question is, what about tomorrow? What about next week?” Rhodes said one of the greatest tributes we can do for Dr. King is to live out his dream and learn to live together daily.
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