News Talk 94.1/AM 1600 Where The Upper Cumberland Talks
The Cookeville-Putnam County NAACP Branch is inviting the community to celebrate Martin Luther King Day virtually this year.
Branch President Thomas Savage said Monday is more than a holiday, representing a time to reflect on Dr. King’s legacy and how to move civil rights forward with his message. Savage said Dr. King’s words show the path towards unity after a divisive 2020.
“His ability to build a coalition of folks through religious values,” Savage said. “To have a voice, and with that voice, his power and that power and that power created that movement.”
Savage said this is also a time for people to remember this country before equality was even considered. He said Dr. King gave people of color a chance to believe things could get better.
“His confidence, he was a revolutionist with the ability to raise issues and come up with solutions,” Savage said. “He made a way for black and indigenous people of color to accomplish things. To give hope, to re-imagine the world and to make those dreams come true.”
Savage said he hopes the community will envision a better future for people of color, similar to Dr. King’s “I Have A Dream” speech.
“During Dr. King’s time he was making an assessment of the situation and what the world is during his time,” Savage said. “He was also thinking about the future. In his “I Have a Dream” speech he declared, ‘my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin.”
The event will feature all local speakers and begins at 7:30 AM on Monday. Savage said Tech Dean of the College of Education Dr. Lisa Zagummmy, Pastor Robert Gardenhire and Morris Irby will all be speaking.
“We’ve got a great program that day,” Savage said. “We will share, we will do Dr. King’s speech and a young man by the name of Morris Irby, who is a leader in our community. He will recite his speech and he does a fantastic job.”
Anyone interested can reach out for a link to the event at naacp.cookevilleputnam@gmail.com. Savage said people can also reach out to him on Facebook to get an invite.
