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The Morristown Task Force on Diversity held its annual Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. breakfast to honor the late leader of the Civil Rights movement and local people who try to uphold his legacy.

The breakfast was held at First United Methodist in Morristown and featured Freedom Rider Joan Browning as the guest speaker, with opening remarks by local government officials.

“Dr. King faced tremendous challenges as the leader of the civil rights movement. He knew his fight for equality would be met with violence, resistance and nothing would be easy,” Hamblen County Mayor Bill Brittain said. “He believed strongly that the cause was much greater than the dangers his family faced. To me that is passion and you have to have passion for anything you do or organization you serve.”

Brittain highlighted the courage and optimism Dr. King showed throughout his fight for equality.

“Dr. King was courageous; he showed us that who we are as agents in change we must be comfortable with discomfort. The 60’s were very dangerous times for civil rights activists and Dr. King believed that staying comfortable never leaves meaningful progress,” Brittain said.

“Dr. King believed that his work would bear fruit. He said in his Nobel peace prize acceptance speech Dr. King explained that the foundation of the civil rights movement and his commitment were grounded in optimism. He believed in audacious faith in mankind and peace and brotherhood would overcome war and racism.”

Brittain said that the qualities Dr. King had should be seen in the leaders of the community.

“Today as we live our lives, choose our leaders and aspire to lead our community we should learn from Dr. King that good leadership requires passion, courage character and optimism and a leader with those qualities can make a difference in their corner of the world.”

“Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day is a federal holiday but Dr. King’s goal during his ministry wasn’t to create a holiday, but to correct a wrong,” Morristown City Mayor Gary Chesney said. “This holiday that pauses our daily routines causes us to reflect and be thankful for Dr. King’s ministry.”

Chesney discussed how Dr. King’s life and perseverance must live on to teach future generations.

“Dr. King’s life was one of struggle and challenges. He persevered though the face of persecution though the ignorance that was racial discrimination,” Chesney said. “The tragic end to Dr. King’s life remains instilled in our public consciousness and it needs to remain there and taught to the younger generation.

“Dr. King’s message and his inspiration has been a main drive in improvements and success in the progress towards racial equality that has occurred since his ministry ended. Let’s not get fooled into thinking we crossed some type of finish line. Much work remains.”

Browning, an original Freedom Rider, discussed her experience with Dr. King and the importance of memories and maintaining local history.

“Since it’s the Martin Luther King Jr. Breakfast let me illustrate my memories of Dr. King. When I was 18 I had completed my junior year of college but was booted out for worshiping at Wesley Chapel African Methodist Episcopal Church,” Browning said.

“After that I moved to Atlanta and joined the Student Non Violent Coordinating Committee that had a two story office on Auburn Avenue across the street from Dr. King’s office.

“We would send out press releases about who was jailed or who was hurt during protests to newspapers. However, we didn’t have money for stamps so I would go over to Dr. King’s office to get stamps.

“I would go to his secretary and she would give me stamps and Dr. King would sometimes come out and say ‘Good morning young lady, how are you?’ I knew he didn’t know my name but he was so very approachable and kind.

“We always called Dr. King ‘reverend’ because that’s what we knew him as, a preacher.

“I attended a lecture he spoke at and he talked about nonviolence, civil disobedience and the future of America. There were several things that I wrote down that were important to me that I have kept with all these years.”

Browning began to speak about Morristown College and the history she learned about the institution.

“As I’ve been in Morristown I’ve been impressed by the deep history of striving to make this place a better place for everyone. I’ve heard stories, some which people said they were telling for the first time, stories of struggle against all odds, and stories of success,” Browning said.

“Today I want to try inspire a greater appreciation for local memories. To ask people my age and even younger to tell their stories.

“Look at the oldest person at your table, do you know what that person has experienced? Morristown has hundreds of historic and untold stories, for example Morristown College. Right here up on a hill stood one of the noblest, institutions in our nation’s history.

“I’ve had the pleasure of my last three visits to Morristown to meet an original student of Morristown College. Did you know you still have people here who have personally experience at Morristown College?”

“On that hill that now stands Fulton-Hill Park stood a wooden building used as a slave market, during the Civil War it served as a hospital for wounded soldiers, it was once a church and the first school building for white children in Morristown.”

“There are untold stories of Morristown College, somewhere there are news clippings and photographs of the heroic people who devoted their time and talents to opening opportunities learn about them.”

Browning encouraged the audience to keep memories alive by listening and learning the stories of the local history.

“Times are challenging now, wars, rumors of wars, poverty, and discrimination against all sorts of people. Learning about Morristown College humbled me. What do I know about hard times? The harrow of enslaving human beings and suddenly freeing them after they were systematically deprived of education created a vacuum.”

“We all have memories that become precious when we share them.

“My memories of the few interactions with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and as a freedom rider. It’s important that we keep these memories alive and share them and learn about them through others. So as you leave from this, learn and listen about the memories to keep them alive,” she said.

Musical selections were provided by the Martha Davis Choir and Chandler Dukes and prayers were provided by Rev. Jason McIntosh and Rev. Johnny Jones.

The Dockery-Senter Art Contest, Citizen Tribune Essay Contest and Community Award winners were recognized.

For the art contest, Mia Galyon from Manley Elementary School won for grades Kindergarten through second and Deysa Roque from Witt Elementary won for grades third through fifth.

The winners of the Citizen Tribune Essay Contest were Braedon Hall Bolin from Hillcrest Elementary School for grades third through fifth, Parker Gullivar for grades sixth through eighth, Elizabeth Parton from West High School and Maddie Black from East High School for grades ninth through twelfth.

Each student presented their essay to the audience discussing leadership and how they will help the community.

The Task Force Community Award winners were Denise Carr, Chandler Dukes and Scherry Fouke.