Hundreds of Bloomington residents joined community leaders Monday night to celebrate Martin Luther King, Jr. The annual event centered on honoring the legacy of the civil rights icon while putting his work into contemporary context.
The Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Birthday Celebration Commission plans the event each year. Commission member James Sanders says many people don't know the details of the civil rights movement, so events like this are an important education tool.
"I think it's important to the community because a lot of people don't know certain aspects of civil rights, and of course if we don't know where we've been, we don't know where we're going," Sanders says. "And so I think it's very important for us to remember not only the man, but the movement and what he did and what we should do for civil rights going forward."
Commission member Lily Kleinlein says events like this bring people together. "I think this is a great reminder to people that we have a lot in common and we can stand together for what we think is important and right for our community," Kleinlein says.
Keynote speaker Reverend Harold Middlebrook was a friend of King and an active member of the civil rights movement. Dennis Rendleman attended the celebration event with his father Wilford. Dennis says hearing from Middlebrook was eye-opening.
"The numbers are dwindling of people that were around during that time that can actually say that they participated and were actually in the sit-ins and things like that," Dennis says. "So being here with someone who was actually there, and not just relaying history through like a textbook kind of gives you a different spin on the history and really kind of gives it to you without the sugar coating."
Wilford says he almost chose to stay home for the night, but he's glad he made it to the event.
"I'm glad I came because I learned a lot of things," Wilford says. "Because you get a chance to meet different people and by meeting different people you see different backgrounds and where people have been, and it's been a blessing."
Bloomington Mayor John Hamilton took the opportunity to condemn President Donald Trump's recent remarks that the United States shouldn't accept immigrants from African countries and should instead accept immigrants from nations like Norway.
The celebration also included musical performances and words from city, county and Indiana University officials.
