Carol Stream to feature ex-NBA player, photographs of King for MLK Day
The legacy of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. will be celebrated at events across DuPage County in the coming days, including an observance Monday night in Carol Stream that will feature both the voices of a choir and the words of a former professional basketball player.
But organizers of the Carol Stream event say it's more than just a way to remember and honor King. It's also a chance to bring the community together and encourage residents to continue the pursuit of what the late civil rights activist began.
The 90-minute celebration begins at 7 p.m. Monday, Jan. 19, at Wheaton Christian Center, 610 E. North Ave., and is sponsored by Outreach Community Center in Carol Stream, the village of Carol Stream and the Christian center. It's one of several concerts, speeches and other events planned throughout DuPage to honor King and his message.
In Carol Stream, participants will hear music from the Victory Cathedral Worship Center choir, as well as a speech from keynote speaker and former NBA player the Rev. Bruce L. Douglas Sr. A University of Illinois alum who played with the Sacramento Kings, Douglas now is pastor of Walking in Grace Community Church in Plainfield and founder of the Shooting for Christ basketball camps.
During the event, Outreach Community Center will announce the winner of a new contest that invited students and youth groups to submit creative projects such as videos and artwork about King and his contributions to society. The projects also aimed to address the theme of this year's celebration: "A beloved community."
"A beloved community is a community that has the attributes of reconciliation, redemption and hope," outreach center Executive Director Donald Robinson said. "That people believe in the good nature of others and that there are opportunities that people can see and are working toward that."
Outreach Community Center in Carol Stream provides services such as academic tutoring, counseling and college preparation for area youth.
Robinson said it's important for the center to celebrate King's legacy every year because "what he embodies is what (we) are about."
"There's going to always be a need to help people make progress, personal progress," Robinson said. "There's always going to be a need to call institutions to better service and care of people who are most vulnerable. And as long as we have what some classify as disparity, we're going to have need."
Besides the live elements of the event, the Wheaton Christian Center celebration also will display photographs of King from the 1960s, taken by civil rights activist and Wheaton resident Bernard Kleina.
Regarding the recent protests ignited over the deaths of Michael Brown and Eric Garner, Kleina said it's good to see the demonstrations but that he would like to see them echo the ways of King's movement.
"I would like to see them more organized," Kleina said. "I think this was one of the strengths of Dr. King's movement. … The demonstrations were well-organized and very disciplined. As a result, I think they moved a lot of people that would not have been moved if Dr. King's response to violence was simply more violence."
Kleina said he thinks King's dream has yet to be fulfilled.
"I think it's elusive because we're still not all that good at living together as friends and in peace," Kleina, 79, said. "Too many disagreements are settled with violence that could be settled in different ways. So I think we still have a long way to go at reaching his dream, which basically is to live together as friends and to give each other hope."
Robinson said that although there is still work to be done, the country has progressed. While it's not perfect, he said there's a "foundation" of racial reconciliation in Carol Stream that can clearly be seen by the diverse group of people that comes together to put on the Martin Luther King Jr. Day event.
"It's showing the community is together and believes in what Dr. King did to fight for what we now see in Carol Stream."
Martin Luther King Jr. Day events
• The Chicago Sinfonietta plays a concert to honor King at 3 p.m. Sunday at North Central College's Wentz Concert Hall, 171 E. Chicago Ave., Naperville. Tickets: $58. Info: tickets.noctrl.edu or (630) 637-7469.
• Agape Connection Inc. sponsors a celebration and fundraiser featuring the Unity Children's Choir of Aurora and guest speaker Barbara Williams-Skinner, a former executive director for the Congressional Black Caucus, at noon Sunday at the Hyatt Hotel, 1400 Corporetum Drive, Lisle. Info: (630) 898-5333.
• Help out in the name of King at the Itasca Community Library Day of Service. Children can drop by and help with multiple community service projects, including crafting cards for veterans. The event runs 2 to 4 p.m. Monday at 500 W. Irving Park Road., Itasca. Info: (630) 773-1699
• Residents participate in service activities from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Monday at Benedictine University's Krasa Student Center, 5700 College Road, Lisle. Features a variety of projects, including making valentines for veterans and a blood drive. Info: (630) 829-6000.
• Eboo Patel, founder and president of Interfaith Youth Core, speaks at 8 a.m. Monday at the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. Day Breakfast, sponsored by Benedictine University and the College of DuPage, at Benedictine's Krasa Student Center, 5700 College Road, Lisle. Info: (630) 942-4000.
• DuPage County Regional Superintendent Darlene Ruscitti is the keynote speaker for a celebration of King's life and legacy at 6:30 p.m. Monday at Elmhurst College's Hammerschmidt Chapel, 190 Prospect Ave., Elmhurst. Info: elmhurst.edu.
• Tim King, founder, president and CEO of Urban Prep Academies, is the guest speaker at an event sponsored by Aurora and the city's MLK Committee at 6:30 p.m. Monday at Waubonsie Valley High School, 2950 Ogden Ave., Aurora.
• Civil rights activist and author Cornel West speaks about King's legacy, other African-American leaders and young people's involvement in social change at 7 p.m. Friday at North Central College's Pfeiffer Hall, 310 E. Benton Ave., Naperville.