A day of service: Annual Martin Luther King Jr. program focuses on civic engagement, helping others

Those gathering Monday for the 15th annual Mat-Su MLK Jr. Foundation Community Celebration in Palmer didn’t let the inclement weather interfere. The Mat-Su Senior Services Center hosted this year’s event honoring the work of civil rights advocate Martin Luther King Jr.

The afternoon program focused on civic engagement and taking it beyond just voting. It included proclamations, music, several speakers and a presentation on the Alaska Highway Project. The Palmer High School chorus presented several musical selections throughout the program. Due to the weather, scheduled keynote speaker Cal Williams, as well as the Colony Calypso Steel Drum Society Band, were unable to attend.

Foundation President Melvin Sage-EL II emceed the program which began following the presentation of colors by the Alaska State Defense Force (ASDF) Color Guard. Anna Crowther, director of the Mat-Su Community Chorus, sang the National Anthem and Alaska State Flag Song followed by an invocation from Deacon Simon Brown of the Shiloh Missionary Baptist Church gave the invocation.

Proclamations from President Barack Obama, Palmer Mayor Edna DeVries, and Wasilla Mayor Bert Cottle were read denoting the federal holiday. Brown is also a retired Lt. Col. in the Air National Guard, served as the state’s first African American commander for Alaska State Troopers, and is very involved in the ASDF. He addressed the crowd in his second of three trips to the podium providing more information on the organization.

ASDF is a volunteer organization deployed at the calling of the governor. Brown said activation usually occurs during or after an emergency such as a natural disaster. Its main goal is to assist law enforcement personnel. He said every member spends their own money for uniforms and required testing.

“In a disaster, (you) can’t expect people to service themselves... we come in and relieve those of that responsibility,” Brown said. (Members) have a commitment to the state of Alaska and your community.”

Brown said ASDF volunteers were activated in Valdez and the (Dalton Highway) Haul Road following the Sept. 11 attacks and have responded to floods near Talkeetna and wildfires across the state.

Shala Dobson and Jim Dault, both Valley artists, are also members of the Alaska Highway Project. The organization’s plans are to complete a memorial noting the accomplishments of African Americans in constructing the Alaska part of the Al-Can Highway in the early 1940s. Oct. 25, 2017, is 75th anniversary of that completion.

The two said the group’s mission statement is to honor the three African American army engineering companies that built the Alaska section of the highway. Plans are to construct a memorial in Anchorage’s Centennial Park. Dault said the topic will also be added to the Anchorage School District’s Alaska Studies curriculum. The engineers built the 1,600 miles of road in eight months and eight days and met at the Alaska-Canada border.

“We’re creating a park with three flags, Canada, the US, and the state. It will have donor walls and center area for a memorial,” said Dault. That memorial will include a life-sized bronze depiction featuring an African American engineer on a mountaintop.

The organization’s website is alaskahighwayproject.com. The two said they are looking for help all the time, especially donations which can be made to the website. The group meets the third Friday of the month at the BP Energy Center in Anchorage at 6 p.m.

Foundation secretary Cheryl Puryear spoke to the youth. She said throughout her life, she looked toward children — directing her comments to the choir seated in the front row.

“You guys are so, so important,” Puryear said. She said for older Americans, it’s important to make sure they are reaching out to the young people. “Instill kindness, honesty and truth for our future and you’ll have to do it for your future — our civic responsibility — this is where our future lies. You have a lot to offer and we’re looking forward to it.”

Brown pinch-hit as the event’s keynote speaker and focused on making a difference.

“How we treat one another, how we care. What do we do so when we die, what will your friends say about you? Will people miss you out of their lives? You want someone to say that person made a difference in our lives... did something to make me stop and take notice. We can all do something to help someone else. If you can’t look back, it’s time to stop and think what’s going on,” Brown said.

Brown said today’s technology has a habit of making people become selfish. He said it can make people go into “...their own little cubby-hole” and forget about others.

“Your actions, the things you do, the way you act around (others) can sometimes help someone. It can turn them around and make them think that life’s worth living. Don’t be ashamed,” Brown said. “A lot of good things happen in the world. A lot of good people doing a lot of good things that’s making a difference in all our lives...we sometimes don’t see it up front.”

Brown encouraged the audience not to begin by looking at King, but instead focus on the things they’ve tried to teach others.

“Make a commitment that from this day forward, every day of my life, I will do something to help somebody, to make this a better world,” Brown concluded.