MANCHESTER – The 56th Annual Martin Luther King Jr. Tribute served not only to remember and recognize the noted civil rights leader, but also served as a special community event.
The ceremony featured attendees of all ages and featured song, dance and spirituality. The event, which filled the auditorium of Manchester High School, was hosted by Eric Lawson whose aunt, chorus founder Queen Cannon, started the event with the full support of the school district decades ago.
Cannon was a teacher and guidance counselor in Manchester for 35 years and also served as an interim principal. The program is one of the longest continually running tributes to the life of King. It began the year after his assassination.
“It is phenomenal how this event has grown over the years and how many people support this awesome event,” Lawson said.
Superintendent Diane Pedroza spoke about how Queen Cannon had encouraged her in the early years of her career. “I was teaching 8th grade English and certainly I was frightened but she was a woman of God and she spoke to me and said, ‘Diane you can do this because you can do all things through Christ who will strengthen you.’”
“I love our school district. I love our children. How special is a place like Manchester that we can bring this into our schools. I’ve been coming to this with my husband every year and it is something that is such a joy to my heart,” Pedroza added.
Manchester High School Principal Dennis Adams, who is also a pastor, welcomed everyone to the ceremony and provided the invocation. “We are here to celebrate his legacy and we are also here to celebrate a man who put God first. It is so refreshing to be in an environment, not held to the title of principal to let everyone know Jesus is my Lord.”
This year’s event once again featured performances by the Manchester Gospel Chorus who are a big part of the event. The ceremony also provided opportunities for new talent to grace the stage. An interpretive dance to “Big God” by Tim Godfrey was performed by We Are One Productions, based in Manchester and made up of township residents.
A Praise Dance was performed by Danei Obery and Shaniqua Hailey dressed in bright yellow gowns.
Dr. Henry Jackson whose career began at Ocean County College as an English professor served as keynote speaker.
“Tonight’s gathering is to not only honor the Manchester Township Gospel Choir but more importantly, we are here to witness the 56th annual celebration of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. a man who exemplifies the true meaning of activism and while Dr. King’s story is legendary, he did not do that alone,” Jackson said.
He said other noted civil rights activists emerged and acted during that period of time. “Without them Dr. King would not have had the platform or support or the means to get his message across let alone to be able to bring about the change in the legal system through the civil rights movement.”
Jackson noted that “in the 11-year period from 1957 to 1968, King traveled over six million miles and appeared wherever there was injustice that required action.”
Jackson added that King “wrote five books as well as numerous articles and he led a massive protest in Birmingham, Alabama that caught the attention of the entire world providing what he called a coalition of conscience. He directed a peaceful march in Washington, D.C. of 250,000 people to whom he delivered his most famous ‘I have a dream’ speech.”
“He was awarded five honorary degrees and was named Man of the Year by Time magazine in 1963 and was a world figure. At the age of 35, Dr. King was the youngest man to receive the Noble Peace prize and when notified of his selection he announced that he would turn over the prize money – $54,120 – to the civil rights movement,” Jackson added.
He noted sadly that on April 4, 1968, “while standing on the balcony of his hotel room in Memphis, Tennessee where he was leading a protest march in sympathy for striking garbage workers of that city, he was assassinated and his story was cut short.”
Jackson then asked the audience, “what is your story? I want to challenge you in how you serve and support one another both at school and beyond.”
