 Good morning. I'm Ed McDowell, Councilperson for District 2. We gather here today to celebrate the memory, the legacy, and the passionate journey of Martin Luther King, Jr. It is our prayer and our thoughts that his dream of humanity and harmony might be a reality today in the lives of not only this city of ours, but for this nation of ours. Let us pray. Create a God for your love, strength, and peace that passes all understanding for the wisdom and legacy of Martin Luther King, Jr. We pause to give homage to him and what he gave to this world of ours. We would simply ask today that not only service be an agenda item for each of us, but not only just to whisper that word, but to let service be a real opportunity to do something, to realize something, to expose something. Allow us to sense your presence and allow the dream of Martin King to perpetuate in the souls of each of us. The manifestation of his dream can only become a reality when we are able to do what we say we ought to do. So bless us today, bless this city of ours, bless this nation of ours, as we struggle with the parameters of peace and justice for everyone. Allow the leaders of this city to feel the drumbeat of justice and social liberty throughout this city of ours. Allow the vision and those of us who share in this collaborative dream to be a part of this day, this time, and this hour. We ask it. We claim it in your name. Amen. First, let me express that I'm honored to be here with you today. This is a wonderful celebration of the life and the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and a long meaningful tradition for the city of Columbia. While we regret that we could not host an in-person celebration, the decision was made in the interest of the public. Due to the pandemic, a virtual celebration was necessary to protect the health and safety of our citizens. However, it will not limit our abilities to remind our citizens of his courage, his boldness, and his unwavering commitment to see the lives of our brothers and sisters change forever. Today, we express our gratitude and our gratefulness for his work and his spirit which lives through us even to this very day. Thank you so much for joining us today as we celebrate the life and the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. God bless you. On behalf of our Mayor, City Council, our City Manager, Parks and Recreation Department, and the MOK Committee, we would like to extend a sincere thank you to everyone who supported the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. on the Dream Food Drive. We are grateful for all the donations that will be used to help those in our communities. All proceeds will benefit the Harpers Hope Food Bank. Thanks to those who contributed to our online virtual food drive and to those who participated in our drive-thru food drive at MOK Park. We look forward to serving the community for many years to come. Thank you so much, and God bless. Hello, my name is Alicia Yutzi, and I'm the Director of Public Relations, Media and Marketing for the City of Columbia. It is my pleasure to announce the 2021 Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Dream Keeper Scholarship winners. The Dream Keeper Scholarship Awards program recognizes exemplary displays of committed service to the tenants of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. The ideals of social responsibility, political empowerment, diversity, racial harmony, non-violence, and unselfish service must be demonstrated voluntarily by the nominee in support of his or her community and fellow citizens. Numerous nominations were received for this year's Dream Keeper Scholarships program. The winners of the Dream Keeper Scholarships for 2021 are as follows. Our elementary school winner, first place for a $100 scholarship is Caden Young, who attends the Center for Knowledge. Our high school winners are as follows. In third place, winning a $250 scholarship is Jordan Milbaugh from Sumter High School. Our second place winner, winning a $500 scholarship is Sierra Sands, who attends Blythewood High School. And our first place winner, who will receive a $1,000 scholarship is Amber Burton, who attends Dreyer High School. And last but certainly not least, we want to thank each and every one of our sponsors for donating financial contributions for this year's scholarship program. The sponsors for this year's program are as follows. $500 was donated by the Alpha Psi Lambda Chapter and Omicron Iota Lambda Chapter of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity Incorporated. $500 was donated for the Josiah Caden Jenkins Memorial Scholarship. The donation was made by Chief Aubrey D Jenkins, who is our own Columbia Fire Chief. The scholarship was established in memory of his great-nephew Josiah Caden Jenkins. A $500 scholarship was donated by 100 Black men of Greater Columbia Incorporated. $250 was donated by the Cromarty Law Firm, LLC. A $250 contribution from Assistant City Manager for Operations, Henry Simons, with the City of Columbia. A $200 contribution for a scholarship was made by City Manager Teresa Wilson with the City of Columbia. A $200 scholarship was donated by Director Randy Davis with Parks and Recreation with the City of Columbia. A $200 combined scholarship for $100 per person was donated by Columbia Police Chief William H. Skip Holbrook and the Deputy Police Chief Melron Kelly. And $150 was donated collaboratively by the Martin Luther King Jr. Foundation Committee members. Congratulations to all 2021 scholarship winners and a very special thanks to all scholarship sponsors for your donations to support the dreams of our young leaders of the future. Hello, Columbia. I am Teresa Wilson, your City Manager. It is a great honor that the City of Columbia welcomes this illustrious leader as our guest speaker for the 33rd annual Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. celebration. Since being elected mayor in a record turnout election in April of 2010, Mayor Stephen K. Benjamin has made it his mission to make Columbia one of the most talented, educated and entrepreneurial cities in America. Mayor Benjamin was asked to speak at the 2016 Democratic National Convention where he talked about the importance of instilling in his daughters that they can do anything they set their minds to even becoming president of the United States. President Barack Obama's administration commended Mayor Benjamin on his work on behalf of my brother's keeper, MBK. The city's MBK efforts, in addition to Mayor Benjamin's leadership, have led to Columbia being seen as a nationwide leader in implementing and upholding the missions of the program. In addition to serving as Mayor of Columbia, Mayor Benjamin also served as the 2018-2019 President of the U.S. Conference of Mayors and he served in other national positions including chairman for municipal bonds for America, a member of the Federal Communications Commission's Intergovernmental Advisory Committee, a member of the Accelerator for America Advisory Council and co-chair of the Mayor's for 100% Clean Energy Campaign. As our nation and our city continue to face the challenges of a national pandemic, Mayor Benjamin currently serves as the national chair of the Mayor's for Mask initiative. Co-chairs the Pandemic Resilience Working Group for America's mayors with former South Bend Indiana Mayor Pete Buttigieg. On a local level, Mayor Benjamin also formed the Midlands Coronavirus Task Force on March the 1st of 2020 and that task force has continued to lead efforts to keep our community not only strong but resilient during these challenging times. Mayor Benjamin is married to the Honorable DeAndre Gis Benjamin, Judge in the Fifth Judicial Circuit and they are the proud parents of daughters Bethany and Jordan Grace. Please give a warm welcome to Columbia's Mayor, the Honorable Stephen K. Benjamin. I would like to thank each of you for taking some time today to honor the life and legacy of the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Especially today, it is crucial to recognize the importance of what his legacy of nonviolent social protest means and why his words and deeds reverberated across America during the turbulent civil rights era and also the profound change he sought to bring about in our laws, our minds and our hearts. Though spoken with the needed ferocity and passion necessary, the clarity of his voice and message communicated not only an urgency for change, but also that necessary beacon of hope that our divisions may one day overcome. While there has been real progress, there is abundant evidence there is much left undone. In short, we are seeing not just a continuance, but an apparent increase in incidences of violence and hatred motivated by the willful blindness and widespread intolerance of racism. Yes, still today, we are struggling as a nation to handle many issues that we thought we put to bed decades ago. Angry protesters weigh flags and swastikas that brave young men stormed the battlefield at Gettysburg, beaches of Normandy and the bridges of Selma to defeat. There are actually ongoing debates online about the morality of human chattel slavery, divisive ethnic racial and religious rhetoric. Not only hate speech, but deadly violence often co-signed from the highest levels of the Republic. This endless barrage of bitterness we watch on the news every night, the hate and vitriol flowing from what should be the world's first and greatest temple of democracy that is not the America we know and love and not the America that Dr. King envisioned. Dr. King knew this intolerance reaches across our country and touches all communities, writing in what is now a seminal piece of American literature from a jail in Birmingham, Alabama in 1963, where he had been incarcerated for taking part in nonviolent demonstrations against segregation. Dr. King expressed, I'm cognizant of the interrelatedness of all communities and states. Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. We're caught in an inescapable network of mutuality tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly. Throughout last year we witnessed again and again this network of mutuality. Repeatedly and with seemingly inescapable regularity, the intersection of police with members of the black community equaled unnecessary and inexcusable death. By the time George Floyd was murdered on May 25th, he was one on a long and tragic list of names that have regrettably become a part of daily discussions in America. Protests followed across the country and even right here in our own capital city. Though there were some exceptions, in the spirit of Dr. King, the vast majority of protesters raised their voices and passion through the power of peaceful protests. These protests spurred necessary and ongoing conversations about justice and policing and the need for greater bonds of trust and cooperation between police and communities of color. We've taken steps forward and we know there's still much work to be done. In the year of incredible upheaval and societal anxiety, we also saw that systemic racism pervades beyond overt acts of violence or brutality. It also delves deep into the fabric affecting the health of our communities. The COVID-19 pandemic is a new international health crisis. An unheard of disease just a little over 12 months ago has transformed the ways we all live, work, worship, gather and leisure and friendship and the ways we educate our children. COVID-19 has openly revealed the systemic racial disparities in our health care systems. Consider that according to the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control, the only 27% of the state's population is black. African Americans make up nearly 46% of deaths related to COVID across South Carolina. Across the nation, black Americans are 1.7 times more likely to die from COVID at a rate of 134 people per 100,000. That's the highest mortality rate of any ethnicity or demographic. Black Americans are twice as likely as white Americans live in poverty and the working poor more at risk to exposure and infection because they're more likely to work in parts of the service sectors, putting them in close contact with the public, home, health aides, grocery clerks, restaurant workers and housekeepers. Poverty increases underlying health conditions like hypertension, diabetes, chronic lung disease and heart disease that puts COVID-19 victims more at risk of dying from the disease. Over the last year, as these systemic health disparities have become more manifest and evident, policymakers are becoming more focused on transforming these systems. This of course cannot happen quickly enough. The good news is that there are new vaccines and our collective responsibility is to work together to ensure that we use them to effectively address these pronounced disparities. In the meantime, we must maintain social distancing, wear masks and continue getting tested. When looking at the challenges impacting the nation, the state and our state of Columbia over the last year, we see not just one urgent crisis but an unprecedented confluence of three. The greatest public health emergency since 1918, the greatest economic disruption surrounding an election year since 1932 and the greatest social unrest around structural racism and systemic inequality since 1968. Each of these proved to be enormous concerns to overcome themselves, but they occurred several decades apart. Yes, last year, we experienced all of these challenges, compressed and overlapping in the span of a single year. 2020 may be over, but these issues are still pervasive. Thankfully, so many of you committed yourselves to do more than just endure the hardships of the previous year, but actively engage in helping others overcome them. I want to thank everyone who served in the cause of helping others. Our public safety first responders, our frontline healthcare workers, our educators, faith leaders, and those who ensure that the flow of necessary goods and services overcame the distancing measures and reached our homes. But this spirit of service to others must not diminish and be thought of as no longer necessary even after we emerge from the health threat of the pandemic. Going forward, I charge all of us in all of our communities to find ways to serve. A recent journal article on Black community involvement as a strategy for overcoming barriers states it with eloquent simplicity. Community involvement is democracy in action. Involvement, participation, and action yields outcomes. There's no better way and no more current example than the fieldwork we saw recently in Georgia. Regardless of party affiliation, we can see how activism in Georgia moved the needle to affect outcomes in the political landscape nationally, regionally, and locally, sending a black preacher from the pulpit of Reverend King's Ebenezer Baptist Church to the halls of the United States Senate. We saw great hardships, great tragedy, and great injustices throughout the previous year. But as we saw with the delivery of new vaccines at the end of the year, there's now a reason to find hope in the near future. Dr. King wrote, even from the despair of imprisonment, let us all hope that the dark clouds of racial prejudice will soon pass away and the deep fog of misunderstanding will be lifted from our fear-drenched communities. And in some not too distant tomorrow, the radiant stars of love and brotherhood will shine over our great nation with all their scintillating beauty. Thank you again to each and every one of you, and I pray that we all keep the hope and dreams of Dr. King alive and continue to fight for justice and equality together. May God bless each and every one of you.