By Ann Davis, Special to the KCC
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. once said, “Our goal is to create a beloved community, and this will require a qualitative change in our souls as well as a quantitative change in our lives.”
It is in that spirit that we, the Concerned Citizens of Kershaw County, extend an invitation to all citizens to attend the MLK Unity Day Celebration on Saturday, Jan. 17. We will begin the day at the African American Cultural Center, located at 517 York Street in Camden, at 10:45 am, with various organizations, our youth, and community leaders meeting and greeting each other as we prepare for the MLK Unity March. From there, we will have a Commemorative March to the steps of City Hall at 1000 Lyttleton Street, where our Unity Celebration will officially begin at noon. The Camden Military Academy Cadets will lead the March.
Our celebration is not only of our past, but also for the future. It is a day to honor the messages of Dr. King and his principles of freedom, unity, equality, justice, education, hope and love.
Six talented students have stepped up to use their voice to speak on the theme, “HIS DREAM IS OURS.”
These youth speakers will inspire us as they reflect on Dr. Kings’ legacy and his work as we continue to move forward.
The youth participants include: Zaria BreAnn Brown, Twelfth Grade, North Central High School; Bailey Graham, Eighth Grade, Camden Middle School; Joshua Jewel Lewis, Twelfth Grade, North Central High School; Ayla Jean Neely, Twelfth Grade, Liberty University Online Academy; Remi Perry Tucker, Third Grade, Lake Carolina Elementary School-Upper Campus; and Jernigan “JT” Williams, Twelfth Grade, Lugoff-Elgin High School.
The Lugoff Elementary School Chorus, under the direction of Robin Courson and the Camden High Soulful Harmonies Choir with Jaston Hawes as director, will provide music. Dionne Hough, the minister of music at Mt. Moriah Baptist Church will sing the Negro National Anthem. Information on the upcoming MLK Scholarship will also be available.
Antjuan Seawright, founder and CEO of Blueprint Strategy, LLC, a public relations, advertising, and consulting firm based in South Carolina, will serve as the MC for the event. Mr. Seawright is a renowned speaker, widely known and admired for his special quality of communication, achievement and reputation across the state.
We encourage students and families, school athletic teams, academic clubs, church youth groups, school choirs and all organizations to show up for the March and the Unity Day Program. Communities are always better and stronger together!
The event is organized each year by the Concerned Citizens of Kershaw County (CCKC), in partnership with the Camden-Kershaw County Branch of the NAACP, Unity in the Community, Concerned Clergy of Kershaw County, the African American Cultural Center of Camden, and the City of Camden.
