Prayer breakfast to honor Dr. King, celebrate diversity and progress

In honor of Martin Luther King Jr's birthday, a group of people from diverse backgrounds will sit and break bread together in Crystal Lake and they want you - and other people from the northwest suburbs - to join them at the table.

FaithBridge, a local consortium of faith communities that includes the Buddhist, Jewish, Hindu, Muslim, Christian, Bahá'í and New Thought faiths, is organizing the prayer breakfast which will be held from 7:30 to 9:30 a.m. Monday at the First Congregational Church of Crystal Lake.

FaithBridge is holding the breakfast to push against everything that's dividing people, said Gilbert Friend-Jones, senior minister of First Congregational Church and one of the event's organizers.

The group also wants to acknowledge the collar counties' spike in diversity.

As such, the breakfast will also feature readings and cultural music from different groups.

"I think we have legitimate differences with each other, but we're losing the capacity to be civil in dealing with them," Friend-Jones said. "What we would like to do is foster civil dialogue and discussion among people with diverse points of view."

Ernie Broadnax, 74, a descendant of one of the first black families in Elgin, will be the keynote speaker.

He will discuss the progress he has seen black America make in his lifetime.

Broadnax, the great-great-grandson of Anne Bosley, who escaped from slavery in Alabama via the underground railroad and settled in Elgin in 1862, remembers there were certain restaurants in town where blacks couldn't eat.

As the first black member of Elgin Community College's basketball team, Broadnax remembers he wasn't always able to eat with the rest of his team when they went on the road for out-of-town games.

And in 1955 while in full Marine uniform, Broadnax recalls flying to Florida and, not knowing any better, he walked through the airport's terminal reserved for whites. Almost immediately, a pair of white policemen grabbed him and escort him to the terminal marked for "colored" people.

Now, with blacks occupying high positions of power in the Elgin Police Department, Elgin City Council and now the White House, Broadnax wants to acknowledge the black and white partnerships that helped change things for the better.

"It has not all been brought about over the years by the black community," Broadnax said. "It's been brought about by blacks and whites working together to bring change and make this a better city. I think it's important that people realize that, especially the young kids."

The deadline to purchase tickets for the breakfast was Wednesday, but if you would still like to attend, call the First Congregational Church of Crystal Lake to see if there are any more tickets available - they cost $18.

The phone number is (815) 459-6010.

Ask to speak with the church secretary.