UPDATE: The MLK Day event has been cancelled due to weather as of Monday morning.
Seguin to wrap up annual celebration at TLU
(Seguin) — The final event of Seguin’s five day MLK Day Celebration wraps up today at Texas Lutheran University. Due to today’s cold temperatures, The MLK Day Planning Committee was forced to do away with its annual march to downtown Seguin. Its program, however, will move inside the warm comforts of TLU’s Wupperman Little Theatre.
Regina Lee, a member of the MLK Day planning committee, says doors to the theatre will open at 10:30 a.m. She says the program will follow at 11 a.m.
“We are going to do the program that we usually do downtown. Now, we are going to do the exact program at Wupperman inside. We used to start in Central square and then march to TLU but just a couple of years ago, we reversed it. So, now we are just going to stay at Wupperman and have the program there. So, we plan on being out by 12:30 p.m.,” said Lee.
Those listed on the program include Dr. Gary Roberts, Freddie Hastings and Dr. Norm Beck.
Lee says over the years, the committee has welcomed an assortment of guest speakers. Lee says each have provided important messages in celebration of the slain civil rights activist.
“It’s very important. We have people from our community and some people from outside which is nice just to get an overview of it. A lot of times, our guest speaker wouldn’t have even been born when this occurred. So they brought some history in how it affected them in — how the changes affected them — realizing that at one time, people did not have voter rights. There were political things that kept our nation stagnant at one point. So, it’s very important to have various speakers, men and women, pastors, city officials and we try to do a wide mix of people,” said Lee.
Today’s program and guest speakers follow a full weekend of events. They included Thursday’s church service at New St. James Baptist Church; Friday’s Seguin ISD Choir and Talent Showcase plus evening Black Entrepreneurs Network and Saturday’s MLK Storytime at the Seguin Public Library and annual MLK Banquet and Dinner Show at the Coliseum. Celebrations continued on Sunday with the MLK Gospel Fest at New Life Fellowship Church.
Lee says she invites all of Seguin to put on that jacket and be a part of today’s celebration in honor of Martin Luther King Jr. She says the hope inspired so many years ago remains a hope for generations to come.
“Things that happened over 50 years ago are actually still affecting us. A lot of people say no it has not. Things have gotten better. There is no racism and that’s not the truth of it. There is still a need and there is still a reason for us to really commemorate this date where most holidays don’t’ really affect us. There were a lot of us that were around in the 60s and we have seen changes for the better and this is one community personally that I don’t feel any disregard — you don’t feel the hatred. You don’t feel the division. Kids in our school just eat together. They play together. They socialize. It is just so positive and when I look around the community a lot of times and I’m not going to say there’s not work to be done but for the most part, Dr. King’s dream is really alive here and it does not hurt to remind people that there is a difference outside of this community, outside of this county. That’s why we continue,” said Lee.
With most schools closed and many folks off from work, Lee says today is the perfect day and opportunity to be a part of the change that is still so very much needed.
“One of the mottos that has been pushed around for years is that ‘It’s a day on. Not a day off. It’s a day on to do something positive for the community, for humanity, for yourself, look at things through someone else’s eye. I think that’s very important,” said Lee.
The success of this year’s events continues to prove that the community is committed to not forgetting the legacy and work of Martin Luther King Jr. In fact, Lee says plans are already in the works to ensure that his legacy continues in our community.
“Everything is starting to look a little different because there are younger people on this committee that are with the people who started the committee — Ms. Jewel Lewis, Linda Redix, Joe Patterson — these people started with the committee in its infancy and so they can see the change and now it’s time to let people who weren’t even born and maybe whose parents weren’t even born in the 60s — to let them start taking an interest and taking a hold of it, being involved,” said Lee.
There is no cost to attend today’s MLK Day Program. TLU’s Wupperman Little Theatre is located along Prexy Drive, parking lot 3.