Local leaders gather to honor dream of MLK
For the 10th consecutive year, political, religious and business leaders of the Northwest suburbs came together Thursday to honor the legacy and mission of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.
The expected keynote speaker, Lt. Gov. Sheila Simon, was supposed to make one of the earliest public appearances of her new office at the remembrance dinner at the Chicago Marriott Northwest in Hoffman Estates.
But after the unexpected death of her brother-in-law, Simon was flying to Utah to be with family.
John Burgess, managing director of international services for Buffalo Grove-based International Profit Associates, stepped up to fill in for Simon and remind the audience why King remains such a globally revered figure.
Two years ago, Burgess himself received the Martin Luther King Jr. Leadership Award from the Arlington Heights-based Illinois Commission on Diversity and Human Relations which organizes the dinner.
Burgess spoke of the wisdom of America's Founding Fathers in drafting a document in 1776 that unequivocally declared all men equal.
Yet, nearly 100 years later, President Abraham Lincoln was still fighting to defend that principle. And 100 years after that, King was continuing to struggle for those same words to be understood, Burgess said.
Remembering the state of the nation as recently as 1960 is all one has to do to recognize the importance King had in changing the way Americans thought about themselves and each other, Burgess said. In fact, King's influence is what allows us today to feel proud to be Americans, he added.
“We must all continue to pursue the dream of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.,” Burgess said.
The proof of the need to continue working toward that dream is all around us during this economic downturn, Burgess said. While the average unemployment rate in America is 9.4 percent, it is 15.8 percent for blacks, he said.
“It makes no logical sense that a segment of our population could have a 50 percent higher unemployment rate than the average American,” Burgess said.
Mayors at the dinner included William McLeod of Hoffman Estates, Rodney Craig of Hanover Park, Ken Nelson of Rolling Meadows and Arlene Mulder of Arlington Heights.
The Second Baptist Church of Elgin, which in July will celebrate the 145th anniversary of its founding by freed slaves, provided the dinner's master of ceremonies — Pastor Nathaniel Edmond — and a women's vocal group that performed twice during the evening.
The Rev. Clyde Brooks, president of the Illinois Commission on Diversity and Human Relations, said King never would have wanted to be remembered with a dinner, but there was a good reason his organization continues to hold them.
“We do it because we bring good folks like you together to inspire you and us to do more,” Brooks said.