A virtual Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. celebration was presented online by the Kansas African-American Commission.
The state MLK celebration included appearances by several state legislators, including State Sen. David Haley, D-4th Dist., of Kansas City, Kansas, who introduced a musical selection.
The keynote address in the program was from Kevin Willmott, filmmaker and professor. Willmott, in his address, encouraged whites to tell the truth and encourage their brothers and sisters to stop believing “the big lie.” If Americans can stop seeing each other as a threat, he said, they can have a multiracial democracy, a beloved community resembling the dream of Dr. King.
Members of the Kansas African-American Commission from the Kansas City area include Mark McCormick, director of strategic communications for the ACLU; and Jonathon Westbrook, formerly with the Kansas City, Kansas, Police Department, who became a White House Fellow in August 2020.
To view the statewide Dr. Martin Luther King Day celebration, visit https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-g9K_CRVISE&feature=youtu.be.