Honoring Dr. King
with a day of service

By Tom Waring
Times Staff Writer

City Councilwoman Maria Quinones-Sanchez said Martin Luther King was not merely a black leader, but an "American leader."
Quinones-Sanchez (D-7th dist.) was the guest speaker on Monday morning at the 22nd annual Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Breakfast Celebration at the St. Joachim Roman Catholic Church parish hall.
The event, sponsored by the Frankford Coalition of Neighbors, was held on the national holiday recognizing King’s birth.
The theme was What would Dr. King hope for in 2008? The answer, according to Frankford Group Ministry chief administrative officer Marchelle Folks, is to become a volunteer.
The Baptist minister and civil rights activist, who was shot to death by an assassin in 1968, would have turned 79 on Jan. 15. The occasion has been a national holiday since 1986 and falls on the third Monday in January.
Quinones-Sanchez, who took office earlier this month, has been a community activist for two decades. She wants to bring social justice to her public service.
At the same time, she understands that government cannot do everything. She called on everyone at the breakfast to make an unselfish commitment to honor King by dong things to make Philadelphia better. She challenged people to wake up every morning with a sense of urgency and cross religious, cultural and political lines to make it happen.
"That’s the only way we can make this city a great city," she said.
When he was alive, King won the Nobel Peace Prize for working to end segregation and racial discrimination through civil disobedience and other non-violent means.
After his death, he was honored with a national holiday. Today, folks in Philadelphia and around the country volunteer on the holiday to improve communities in various ways.
In Frankford, civic leaders have been holding an annual breakfast celebration. This year, the two-hour show featured a brass ensemble from Central High School, the Frankford High School Junior ROTC and a dance number by a half-dozen girls who attend the Frankford Beacon Center.
Guest speakers promoted volunteer opportunities at the Beacon Center, the Frankford Garden Club, the Northeast Youth Curfew Center and Frankford Family Support Services.
Religious leaders from several denominations offered prayer.
Kindergartners at Frankford Friends School made drawings, and students at the Beacon Center created posters with famous King quotes such as, "The quality, not the longevity, of one’s life is what is important." King was killed at age 39.
Community leaders say they need help to strengthen the diverse neighborhood.
For instance, the Frankford Family Support Services — which operates a program for at-risk students at Warren Harding Middle School — made a call to parents to become more involved with their child’s education. At this year’s back-to-school night, only 145 parents showed up in a school of 1,185 students.
The Rev. Thomas Brooks, of Frankford Memorial United Methodist Church, read portions of the long letter King wrote from a jail cell in Birmingham, Ala. King defended his civil disobedience and wrote that sometimes a community needs an outside agitator or a perceived extremist to right the wrongs.
Brooks spoke of the recent debate between the campaigns of presidential candidates Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama, who sparred over King’s role in federal civil rights legislation
According to the minister, King’s legacy is about more than a political campaign. It’s about the entire civil rights movement.
"In Martin’s day, Martin refused to support any presidential candidate," Brooks said.
One of the highlights of the annual breakfast is the announcement of the Neighbor of the Year. This year, the winner was Johnnie Mae Parker, a longtime block captain, committeewoman and Frankford Garden Club member.
Parker fondly remembers when her fellow Dyre Street residents had pride in their block. Now, she sees too much trash on Dyre Street and other blocks.
"If everyone cleaned around their own door, you would have a nice block," she said. "Let’s all work together."
The Rev. Catherine Bowers, executive director of Frankford Group Ministry, seconded that call to action.
"Don’t let Johnnie Mae be the only Neighbor of the Year," she said. ••
Reporter Tom Waring can be reached at 215-354-3034 or twaring@phillynews.com