Community leaders gather to honor Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s leadership

Area community, religious and municipal leaders gathered in Chicago Saturday night to commemorate the 48th anniversary of the death of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and honor people who lead in the spirit of King.

The Illinois Commission on Diversity and Human Relations, led by the Rev. Clyde Brooks of Bolingbrook, hosted the remembrance and unity dinner, and Lori Lightfoot, chair of the Chicago Police Board, was the event's keynote speaker.

Brooks, who worked with King in the civil rights movement, says April was an opportune month to hold the dinner, with the theme of "bridging the divide" between all ethnicities, because it is the month that King "launched many of his campaigns."

The nonprofit organization aims to address problems that arise over racial and cultural lines.

Brooks said the commission honors people who are exceptional leaders worthy to be seen in honor under the name of Kind.

Honors were presented to Robert E. Landers, owner of Heil and Heil Insurance Agency in Skokie, and attorney Geoffrey A. Bryce, Managing Partner of Bryce, Downey and Lenkov in Chicago.

Landers served as an honorary chair for the commission's dinner for several years, and also chaired the scholarship committee.

"We said 'it's about time that we honor Bob Landers,'" Brooks said. "The honoree is a great man, he's a quiet man. I cannot remember one time when the honoree ever said no."

Lightfoot said the dinner's theme was really "a call to action in this important moment."

One key action, she said, is bridging the divide between "police and the communities they are sworn to protect." Recent examples, notorious examples, of how certain police officers have failed to do their duties in the right way.

In order to address the divide in community, we have to have an honest conversation about poverty, she said.

Lightfoot said the "incredible proliferation of legal guns," and the overuse of traffic stops by police need to be considered.

Angela Holmes, Elgin Community College board member, and retired bankruptcy judge Manny Barbosa, of Elgin, were both recognized during the dinner. Holmes is also the founder and senior pastor of the Outreach Fellowship Christian Center in East Dundee.

Barbosa was honored by the commission in January 2015 for his leadership qualities.

The Soul Children of Chicago, led by Walt Whitman, led attendees in the national anthem and performed throughout the night.

Democratic nominee for Cook County States Attorney Kim Foxx also sat at the head table Saturday.