Story By John Mann
The Lakeview Community Civic Organization of Guntersville held their annual MLK Day Unity Breakfast on Monday, honoring one of the founding fathers of the American Civil Rights Movement Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
“We are honored to gather today in the spirit of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s vision of unity, service and justice for all.” LCCO Assistant Secretary Cynthia Staten said in her opening address. “Thank you to our mayor and all our esteemed guests for joining us and thank you to everyone who continues to work towards building a stronger and more inclusive community.”
The LCCO is a non-profit organization that provides scholarships, school supplies, Christmas bags for the elderly and many other support efforts for the community of Guntersville. It was named after the Lakeview school which operated in Guntersville from 1942 to 1968, the primary educational institution for Black students in Marshall county at the time.
The breakfast opened with short speech by Jarrod Hardnick, a Guntersville native who spoke about how he recognized his own dream by creating a series of children’s coloring books. Hardnick spoke about how he created his first book, based on a nursery rhyme, and the support he received from the people around him. He went on to say that he wanted the books to foster creativity in children and inspire them to do work of their own. He closed by saying “Dream big, little kids. Dream big. I want you to know you’re a star and you can do it because I did. So dream big, little kids, dream big and when you make it to the top don’t forget to bring up all the other kids.”
After some live songs by Guntersville First Presbyterian Church Supply Pastor Lauretta Moore, accompanied by Keith Sullivan of the Guntersville Music Academy on piano, the LCCO welcomed keynote speaker Brandon Love, Connections Pastor for Connect Church.
“It is nothing but a blessing for us to gather at this breakfast table,” Love said. “Breaking bread together, sharing in this wonderful fellowship and honoring the life and legacy of a man whose dream still calls out name.”
Love’s message spelled out what it means to follow in the footstep of Dr. King and his dream for America, famously immortalized in the speech he gave at the Lincoln Memorial in August of 1963. King was himself a Baptist minister who, among other places, helped lead the Civil Rights movement in Alabama, notably in Selma, Montgomery and Birmingham, until his assassination in 1968 at the age of thirty-nine.
Love noted that the ideas of King are rooted in faith and require actions of integrity and hope in jobs, churches and within communities and families.
“The dream is still alive because you are here,” Love said. “The dream is alive when we choose peace in a divided world, especially right now. When we mentor instead of criticize, when we pray instead of giving up and throwing in the towel, when we love even when it’s hard. When we interact with our brothers and sisters of different skin tones and we judge them not based on the color of their skin, but Dr. King said on the contents of their character. The dream is still alive when we treat all manners of male and female with the same dignity, respect and equality that our Framers fought, bled and died for.”
The breakfast came to a close with one last song from Moore as she led the room in a singing of the song “We Shall Overcome.” Martin Luther King, Jr. Day is a federal holiday celebrated every year in the United States on the third Monday in January, starting in 1986.
More information about the Lakeview Community Civic Organization can be found on their Facebook page under “Lakeview Community Civic Organization” or on their website at lakeviewcco.org.
