Young, old, and people from various backgrounds and beliefs met under the flag pole at Ohio University Southern last night to pray for the country and remember Dr.

Tuesday, January 22, 2002

Young, old, and people from various backgrounds and beliefs met under the flag pole at Ohio University Southern last night to pray for the country and remember Dr. Martin Luther King’s plight for civil rights and racial unity.

The prayer service and the program that followed were a part of Operation Be Proud’s annual Martin Luther King Jr. Celebration. More than 100 people from the community showed up for the event.

This year’s presentation differed from those in the past. Usually, the agency hosts a memorial march, but Robert Pleasant, OBP’s president, said, he felt "led to do something different," so the group decided to host the prayer service and performance and "focus on the community…on what’s truly important…loving one another and God."

Ironton City Council chairman Jesse Roberts, who attended the event, said he was overwhelmed by the number of people at the event, but wished all residents could have heard the message.

"I wish more people could see and feel the community spirit that was here tonight," he said.

Interwoven through the songs, dance and play, "E Pluribus Unum – Out of Many ONE," the agency tried to express King’s message of hope and peace for humanity.

The play, written by Belinda Brown, used comedy to drive home the message of tolerance.

Brown said the idea for the play was sparked by the events of September 11 and after about a month, the play was born.

Pleasant said that events that followed the Sept. 11 disaster demonstrated the need to continue King’s work for peace. After the terrorist attacks, Pleasant pointed out, Arabic grocery stores were stoned, mosques defaced and Americans of Middle Eastern decent were verbally and physically attacked. Hate, once again, Pleasant pointed out, reared it’s ugly head.

"Tragically," Pleasant added, "our children are often the first to reap the consequences of what we as a society have sown. They learn to hate before they are old enough to comprehend why. President Bush, speaking at a mosque in Washington D.C., stated that ‘we are in a fight for our principles, and our first responsibility is to live by them."