MLK events gearing up

Martin Luther King Jr's dream of nonviolence will once again take center stage in eastern New Mexico over the coming days as several events are planned in Clovis and Portales to celebrate the national holiday honoring the nation's most well-known civil rights leader.

First up will be Clovis' annual scholarship breakfast, scheduled for 9 a.m. on Saturday in the Clovis High School cafeteria.

Constance Williams, second vice president of the Clovis Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Commission, said the event will include musical performances from Parkview Elementary and the Arts Academy at Bella Vista students, as well as readings from the speech contest winners and remarks from area political officials.

"I think that people should come and participate in these events because they're not only going to see great entertainment and interact with people in their community, they're going to actually be able to think about Dr. King's legacy," Williams said.

Joyce Pollard, president of the Clovis MLK Commission, said her favorite part of the event is the way the community comes together.

"There's just so much togetherness in the city of Clovis, whenever there needs to be a helping hand out there, it just feels like they always come together, so I really appreciate that," Pollard said.

The events pick up in Clovis again on Monday morning with the symbolic walk and rally, scheduled to begin at 9 a.m. at Potter's Park.

Participants will then walk to First Church of God in Christ, where pastor Robert L. Grimes Jr. will speak on this year's theme, "King's Vision Tied in a Single Garment of Destiny," Williams said.

"You have to remember the past because you definitely don't want to repeat it, so the symbolic walk is just for that, to let all of the young people know how it was and then now how we're trying to make it better for all mankind," Pollard said.

Events in Portales will begin at 8 a.m. on Monday morning with the second annual breakfast sponsored by Jeff Elwell, president of Eastern New Mexico University's Portales Campus.

That will be followed by the commemorative march, scheduled to begin at 5 p.m. at the Memorial Building and then the program featuring musical performances and speakers at the ENMU Campus Union Building at 6 p.m.

Portales City Councilor Oscar Robinson said the commemorative march will be preceded by a reading of the city's Martin Luther King Jr. Day proclamation and a speech from a Portales student regarding the theme "United We Stand, Divided We Fall."

Robinson said the annual MLK events are important to bring people back to the idea of "love and brotherhood."

"We need to take time out to refocus so that we can sit down at the table and talk to each other without throwing rocks at each other and shooting people and all that," Robinson said.