King Center's Martin Luther King Service Summit

What a great and busy day! Overall, we had a great day. Six students came as well as two of the students' sisters, and Laura & her fiance. Together, we attended different activities and sessions.

Here are the highlights:

Freedom Rally & Keynote Address / 10:30 – 12:30 / Ebenezer Baptist Church
The Freedom Rally was hosted in partnership with National Park Service, this and featured speeches from the children of late civil rights leaders who are carrying forward the legacies of their parents interwoven with artistic performances from local performers.
Speakers included Jamida Orange, daughter of the late Rev. James Orange and Elder Bernice King, youngest daughter of Dr. King. Performers included the Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Church Choir, Pan People Steel Band, Free Agents 2nd Line Band, and a Grady High student performing spoken word. It was lively and fun! Our very own Ronald was even able to ask Elder Bernice King a question about the positive and negative legacy of the Civil Rights movement!

Homelessness, The Lived Experience / 1:00 – 2:30 / The King Center
According to the 2007 Tri-Jurisdictional Homeless Census, on January 25, 2007, there were 6,840 sheltered and unsheltered homeless men, women and children living in the City of Atlanta, Fulton and DeKalb Counties. Panelists on this topic included Vernon Anderson, Veteran’s Assistance Manager, Samaritan House of Atlanta (was also formally a person affected by homelessness), Elisabeth Omilami, daughter of the late civil rights leader Hosea Wililams, and Executive Director of Hosea Feed the Hungry & Homeless and film makers Nathan Black, a student at Georgia Tech, and Nadia Moreno, a recent graduate from Emory University. Check out their 11 minute movie at overcomingpoverty.com This conversation was be moderated by Protip Biswas, Executive Director, Regional Commission on Homelessness, United Way of Metropolitan Atlanta. Again, one of our club members, Regan, was able to dialogue with panelist Vernon Anderson. This panel gave us ideas for planning our project for Global Youth Service Day!

For the final session at John Hope Elementary, we split into two groups. The majority of us attended:
Understanding Dr. King's Philosophy of a Beloved Community
A youth only session, participants expanded their knowledge of Dr. King’s leadership through an interactive workshop that explored the tenets of the Beloved Community as a tool for engaging communities and skills for effectively bringing people together. Participants discussed Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. as a transformational with speaker and community activist Kirk Tyler. Everyday Leaders were strong participants in this workshop!

Two of our older male students (Regan & Russell) attended Success, Struggles, & Setbacks An in depth discussion about the importance of boys coming into their own as responsible men, productive citizens, and community servants. Speaker Sir James Buchanon works at Hands On Atlanta, is a motivational speaker, an author, and a relationship therapist. This workshop was for youth males.

We ended our long day with written reflection at John Hope Elementary. Highlights of these reflections will be featured in this week's Courier. I am very proud of the students--their maturity was recognized and appreciated by Hands On Atlanta staff, special guests, and presenters. Way to represent ACMS!