Wise continues its three-decade MLK Jr. celebration

WISE — More than 100 people gathered to continue a three-decade annual celebration of Martin Luther King Jr.'s life and work in Wise Monday.UVa Wise and the town of Wise have hosted the Martin Luther King Jr. Day event with local churches in clear and bad weather, and Monday's event saw cold temperatures but clear skies. After a community meal at Trinity United Methodist Church, the crowd made its traditional march to another church — Wise Baptist Church this year — for a program of music and speakers honoring King's work before his 1968 death."Our mission is not impossible, but necessary," program emcee Corey Sanches told the crowd."Tonight we celebrate that we as a community have been celebrating the life of Dr. King for three decades, in a place free of judgment" said UVA Wise Chancellor Donna P. Henry. "Tonight we are in harmony … a community that comes together and in celebration."Mary Eubanks — the event's originator — recalled the challenges for that first year."How pleased I am that this is going on for three decades," said Eubanks. "I remember sitting at my desk 30 years ago, contemplating if I should take this to the (college's) Black History Committee."Despite concerns by many of public reaction against a Martin Luther King Jr. remembrance event, Eubanks said she decided to "press on.""Some people said this is a black holiday," said Eubanks. "This is a people's holiday."From 1986, when only 17 states recognized President Ronald Reagan's declaration of Martin Luther King Jr. Day — sometimes celebrated in the South as a day also honoring Robert E. Lee and Stonewall Jackson — Eubanks said President Bill Clinton and Congress made it a federal holiday in 1994. Nine years later, King Day was recognized by all 50 states, she added."It is also recognized by 100 other countries," said Eubanks. "It's not a day to sit home with our feet propped up. It's not supposed to be a day off. It's a day on, a day of service."Guest speaker Elder Carolyn Smith of Macedonia Baptist Church in Appalachia spoke indirectly of recent months and days in the U.S."We need to look at Washington and say, "Everything is gonna be alright,"" said Smith. "Most of us weren't even born then, but (King) was thinking of us."Smith asked the audience to look beyond their differences."All of us have more things in common than we think," Smith said. "We have one thing in common; the enemy and his name is Satan."Smith said King's work up to his death in 1968 was "a clarion call, a call for readiness.""We have an opportunity to make this a better nation," said Smith. "This march started to advocate for civil and economic rights … for me it's now for people to be united."Smith said people are supposed to love their neighbor as they love themselves."God's not interested in our lip service," said Smith. "He's interested in our heart service."