Monday, January 19, 2004
The Martin Luther King Jr. national holiday will be celebrated locally today as Winston-Salem leaders look for racial healing in the community after Darryl Hunt's release from prison in December.
Several events will be held to honor King, the slain civil-rights leader whose message of racial harmony and equality is applicable to the Hunt case, some organizers said.
The Ministers' Conference of Winston-Salem and Vicinity will present Hunt with the Martin Luther King Jr. Courage Award. The award will be presented during a service at St. Stephen Missionary Baptist Church on Noble Street.
The Rev. Otto Gaither, a conference member, said that Hunt deserves the award.
"King's life has proven to be prophetic, and we see that in Winston-Salem," Gaither said. "Hunt has been an emblem of institutional racism that has proven all the fundamental facts that have been preached by Martin Luther King."
A praise service will begin at 6:30 p.m., followed by a worship service at 7 p.m. The program will include local ministers speaking about nonviolence.
Hunt, 38, was released from prison Dec. 24 after serving 18 years in the rape and murder of Deborah Sykes in August 1984. The case divided the city along racial lines.
Another man, Willard E. Brown, 43, has been charged with first-degree murder in Sykes' death after DNA evidence linked Brown to her rape. Brown told investigators that Hunt was not involved in Sykes' death.
The ministers' conference will hold a breakfast at 8 a.m. at Mount Zion Baptist Church. It will include dancing and recitations of King's speeches.
After breakfast, a march to the Benton Convention Center will form at 10:45 a.m. Marchers will leave the church at 11 a.m., turn onto Martin Luther King Jr. Drive and continue on Fifth Street.
The events are free and open to the public.
The 24th Annual Martin Luther King Commemoration will be held at noon in the Benton Convention Center.
Radio station WAAA, the city's Human Relations Commission and the Winston-Salem chapter of the NAACP will sponsor the program.
The Rev. Claude Alexander Jr., the pastor of University Park Baptist Church of Charlotte, will be the keynote speaker. H. Rembert Malloy, Charles B. Hauser and Sid Kelly will be presented with the Martin Luther King Jr. "Dare to Make a Difference Award."
Mutter Evans, the owner of WAAA, said that Hunt benefits from King's message.
"With Hunt being free, it shows why it is important to takes one's civic responsibility seriously," Evans said. "The program will help strengthen and encourage people to deal with whatever 2004 will bring."
A prayer breakfast sponsored by The Chronicle will be held at 7:30 a.m. at Winston-Salem State University's Anderson Center.
Throughout the day, footage of King's speeches will be played at the student-services center and Kennedy Dining Hall.
WSSU and Wake Forest University will hold a celebration in Wait Chapel at Wake Forest University called "Performing the Dream." The program starts at 7:30 p.m. and includes performances by students from both schools.
The video presentations and celebration are free and open to the public.
• Titan Barksdale can be reached at 727-7327 or at tbarksdale@wsjournal.com