Chassie Hutchins speaks at Martin Luther King Day Luncheon
Story By Hunter Jones
On Saturday, the Jackson County Voters League held their annual luncheon and program in celebration of Martin Luther King Jr/Coretta Scott King Day.
Following an opening prayer by Rev. Carolyn Coffey, pledge of allegiance and the singing of “Lift Every Voice and Sing.”
Johnathan Hutchins, uncle of keynote speaker Chassie Hutchins, went to speak in place of his brother, Chassie’s father, as he was called into work.
“My lovely mother asked me to fill in and that’s what we’re supposed to do for family,” Hutchins said.
When considering what he could talk about in his introduction, his mind wanders to when Chassie was four of five years old. He was watching her ride her power wheel, warning her to not go into the nearby ditch. He recalls getting off the porch several times to get her away from the ditch, with her laughing each time. After a while, he decided to let it happen. She ran into the ditch and the power wheel landed on her. He says that after that, she never went back in that ditch.
“Chassie got to this point, she went through trials and tribulations to get there. It wasn’t a straight line, it was a curvy road, all zig zag, but she got there. I say she got close to the ditch but she never went in,” Hutchins said.
He then introduces Chassie as a graduate of North Jackson High school before enrolling at the University of North Alabama, where she graduated in 2022 with a bachelor’s in science and nursing. She currently works at Hellen Keller Hospital.
Chassie then takes her turn to speak, first talking about today not being for remembrance but for responsibility, referencing the theme for this year’s celebration, Mission Possible 2: Building Community, Uniting a Nation the Nonviolent Way.
“(The theme) is powerful for one simple reason: Dr. King’s mission is unfinished,” Hutchins said. “Dr. King believed that nonviolence was not weakness, it was not an avoidance, it was not silence. Nonviolence was courage, nonviolence was a decision to stand firm without becoming what you oppose. Dr. King understood that hate cannot drive out hate, only love can do that.”
Hutchins says that today, division is loud and comes in any forms, through screens, politics, schools, workplace and family. She then states that building a community does not mean that everyone thinks the same, rather that they simply choose to care and see people as neighbors rather than enemies.
“It means choosing dignity, empathy and action. Dr. King once asked life’s most persistent and urgent question, ‘what are you doing for others,’” Hutchins said.
Lastly, Hutchins states that actions matter and reminds those in the room to love their neighbors as themselves and to choose compassion.
Later on, J.D. Stevens would also speak about the founding of the Jackson County Voters League, where Stevens was trained by Archie F. Stewart. Stevens describes his work with Stewart as “trying to help bring people from out of the darkness and to the light,” adding that this was one of the goals when forming the Jackson County Voters League.
“I might not be able to make it to the light with y’all but I want y’all to travel on and make it to the light,” Stevens said.
Next, Jackson County Voter’s League President Howard Hill recognized some of the individual members of the organization for the volunteer work they put in to keep the organization running well before bringing in Rev. Coffey for a word of prayer to close the program.
