by Brian Turrel
A crowd of around 750 braved the ice and cold to honor the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. at the Reardon Convention Center in Kansas City, Kan.
The Rev. Calvin Butts III of the Abyssinian Baptist Church of New York City gave an address, placing King’s vision within the long line of biblical and modern prophets in calling for equality, peace and health. He related each of those visions to contemporary political and social issues.
Butts exhorted the crowd to “go to work” using King’s vision as a blueprint, specifically commending Kansas City’s Mount Zion Baptist Church for their work in building homes.
Thirty-five Wyandotte County students received the Rev. C.E. Taylor-Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Scholarships, and over $13,000 toward the scholarship fund was collected from the crowd and from business and church sponsors.
Stanton Parker II, a scholarship recipient in 2008 and now a consultant with the Ernst & Young accounting firm, addressed the students. He offered three of them a choice between $100 and his business card. Each of the students chose the business card, demonstrating Parker’s point that connections were important to future success.
