Online Presentation Honors Martin Luther King Jr.'s Legacy

MIDLAND, Pa. (KDKA) - The snowstorm put a damper on some of the service projects and other celebrations of this Martin Luther King Jr. Day, but one local organization created a special online presentation to honor his memory.

Perseverance is woven through Dr. Martin Luther King Junior's life and is a lesson the Women's Civic Club of Midland wants to share in an MLK Day celebration presentation online. You can watch the presentation here.

King said, "The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy."

Steeler rookie Najee Harris says Dr. King inspires him.

"It's not until your back's against the wall and then you've really got to respond, and that's why I feel like that's how you see who's a leader. And you know who's really that person – that special person," he said.

Harris is among many people working to continue Dr. King's legacy in their work and in their lives. Jen Miller also follows Dr. King's example. She runs The Center, a community organization providing food, clothing and after-school programs in Midland.

"This idea that you just lead with love, you lead with self-sacrifice, you lead with the idea of unity and acceptance and always for the greater good," Miller said.

But there's much more work to be done to further Dr. King's mission.

Valerie McElvy of We're At Your Service in New Brighton said, "I'm saddened that racism is, I think, still the same. I don't think we have moved beyond anything but tolerance. I do see that we're trying in government, in school. We're trying with diversity, but the challenges, they're deep."

Aiysa Washington, a fashion stylist in New York and originally from Beaver County, says, "It's our responsibility to make sure that the younger generations know about Dr. Martin Luther King and all that he's done for us and that he's not just a street sign or a school. He's a person who mattered in what he said, the vision that he had mattered and still lives on."

This MLK Day presentation is doing just that, and there are people in Midland and across our region continuing his mission in their work every day.

Many groups celebrate Martin Luther King Jr. day with service, and as part of that, the Women's Civic Club is asking for donations for the Food Bank and Women's Shelter of Beaver County.