 Martin Luther King Jr. celebration. I'm your host, Alicia Utsi. This year's celebration is being held virtually in the interest of public health and out of an abundance of caution. Our first speaker is our Mayor, Mayor Daniel J. Rickerman, who will bring greetings on behalf of the city of Columbia. Thank you all for joining us today. I'd like to take a moment to thank Congressman Clyburn for speaking today and for all his contributions to South Carolina. Congressman Clyburn's career is consistent of delivering for the people of Columbia and standing up for those who need it most. Columbia has come a long way since the days of Dr. King and we still have a long way to go. But luckily for us, our city is filled with great people who know the true meaning of community. This is the city I fell in love with because of all our people's open minds and open hearts. As we remember Dr. Martin Luther King today, let us also carry this spirit of openness and community into the future. Let us never forget that despite any disagreements, we all are brothers and sisters in South Carolina and we should take care of each other. I look forward to hearing from Congressman Clyburn and I hope everyone knows our ears, our hearts and our doors will always be open in Columbia to anyone who needs it. Thank you. Each year we're pleased to offer scholarships to local students from our community. This year we're about to announce the winners for the 2022 Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Dreamkeeper Scholarships. Kevin Crawford, Public Relations Manager with the Parks and Recreation Department tells us the highlights. Good afternoon. I'm Kevin Crawford II, Public and Media Relations Manager for the City of Columbia Parks and Recreation Department. The Dreamkeeper Scholarship Award Program recognizes exemplary displays of committed service to 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 Dreamkeeper Scholarship Program. Starting with elementary, third place, $50 Jamir Reddick, Greenview Elementary. Second place, $75, Brandelyn Mullins, Greenview Elementary. First place, $100, Olivia Singleton, Center for Knowledge North. Now onto middle school winners. Third place, $100, Angelica Gary, K-12 Private Academy. Second place, $175, Chad Wilson, Southeast Middle School. First place, $250, Amari Backman, Southeast Middle School. And last category, high school. Third place, $250, Aisha Budden, Sumter High School. Second place, $500, Harmony Frederick, Spring Valley High School. And first place winner, $1,000, Miss Sidney Smith River Bluff High School. Last but certainly not least, we want to thank each and every one of our sponsors for donating this year. The sponsors for this program are as follows, Alpha Psi Lambda Chapter and Omicron Iota Lambda Chapter of Alpha Phi Alpha Faternity Incorporated. The Josiah Kaden Jenkins Memorial Scholarship by Chief RBD Jenkins. 100 Black Men of Greater Columbia Incorporated. Cromarty Law Firm. Craig Witherspoon, Richland School District 1 Superintendent. Henry Simons, Assistant City Manager of Operations. City Manager, Teresa Wilson. Reverend A.M. and Genevieve Risher-Utesy Memorial Scholarship, donated by Alicia Utesy, Public Relations, Media and Marketing Director. Director, Randy Davis, Parks and Recreation City of Columbia. Columbia Police Department, Chief Skip Holbrook and Deputy Chief Mel Ron Kelly and the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Foundation Committee. Also each year, we're proud to sponsor the annual Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Food Drive in partnership with Richland School District 1 and the Harvest Hope Food Bank. This year, the City of Columbia is proud of the success of the food drive and also proud of how many people in our community it will benefit and support. Randy Davis, our Parks and Recreation Director, gives us the results of the food drive and announces this year's outstanding winners. Good afternoon. I am Randy Davis, Director for the City of Columbia Parks and Recreation Department. On behalf of the Parks and Recreation Department, we would like to extend a sincere thank you to everyone who participated in the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Honor the Dream Food Drive. The food drive is held each year to honor Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s Legacy of Community Service. This year, we held a virtual and in-person food drive completed with a drive through food drive. With our virtual food drive, we have succeeded our expectations for this year once again. In addition, the drive through food drive was a great success as well. The City of Columbia along with schools in Richland District 1 competed against each other by collecting the most canned goods and each canned good that was donated by each school was tallyed to discover winners collecting over 15,000 pounds of food. I will now present the winners for the schools. In third place, Forest Heights Elementary collected 1,476 pounds. Second place, Meadowfield Elementary collected 1,504 pounds. And Hand Middle School collected the most with 2,894 pounds. Now on the city buildings, Drew Wellness came in third place with 409 pounds. King Park is second with 522 pounds. And Hyatt Park is our first place winner collecting 680 pounds. Thank you again to all who have contributed along the way and we look forward to serving the community for many years to come. We are Columbia, thank you. And now the highlight of our ceremony, our keynote speaker. This year we are honored to have Congressman James Clyburn as our keynote speaker for the 34th annual Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Celebration and Commemoration for the City of Columbia. Thank the City of Columbia for inviting me to speak at this 34th annual Martin Luther King Jr. ceremony. As we pause to commemorate and celebrate the life and legacy of Dr. King, let us commit to continuing our thrusts towards life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. After all, those are the cornerstones of our country's founding principles and the foundation upon which our fragile democracy has been built. Dr. King was to my generation one of, if not thee, most admired people on the planet. I first met him during the weekend of October the 15th, 1960 at the second official meeting of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee. I along with several other students from Plaffland and South Carolina State Colleges in Orangeburg joined other student leaders from around the country on the campus of Morehouse College in Atlanta. We were there to organize and coordinate our activities and, as is often the case, tensions developed between us younger founding members of SNCC and Dr. King's Southern Christian Leadership Conference. Seeking to reconcile our differences, we asked Dr. King to meet with us and he complied. I learned during that meeting, which began around 10 p.m. and ended around 4 a.m. and many meetings since, that our differences stem more from our varied life experiences than any philosophical approaches which in my memoir I call Blessed Experiences. That night, I had what I like to call my solstipal transition. I have never been the same since that meeting. Our differences allow us to learn from each other and grow together. It is our ability to reconcile our differences that determines how successful we'll be in bringing out our endeavors to fruition. Those of you familiar with the Good Book, you know that the Apostle Paul changed his name from Saul after thrusting himself into public and active life. In the manifestation of his great principle, he writes in 1 Corinthians 13-11, when I was a child, I spoke as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child, but when I became a man, I put away childish things. I experienced a lot of growing up that night. After that night, I started studying and reading everything I could about and by Dr. King. From his first book, Stride Towards Freedom, the Montgomery story, to his last book, Where Do We Go From Here? Chaos or Community? But the one writing about the Kings that I consider as timeless as anything I've ever read outside of the Bible is his letter from a Birmingham jail. At the time he wrote his letter, Dr. King was in Birmingham to support efforts of the local community to get rid of America's version of apartheid and had been asked to leave because he was a disruptive force. He later received a letter from eight white religious leaders, which they called a public statement of concern and caution. In that letter, the clergyman wrote that they thought King's cause was right, but that his timing was wrong. Dr. King's jailers didn't give him any paper to write on. So he used the margins of the newspapers to pin the beginning of his response to their public criticism of the nonviolent demonstrations against segregation as unwise and untimely. King responded in his letter by addressing the issue of time. He wrote, the time is neutral. It can be used either destructively or constructively. He went on to say that people of ill will have used time much more effectively than the people of good will. He continued, we will have to repent in this generation, not merely for the vitriolic words and actions of the bad people, but for the appalling silence of the good people. Those words written over 60 years ago still ring true to this day. The events of January 6th, 2021, and efforts by individuals to nullify our elections have shown how effectively the people of ill will are using their time. Our response must be a better use of time. As we celebrate Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., hopefully the people of good will commit to making better use of time. It is time for the people of good will to stop being complicit. As my dad would often say to me, silence gives consent. We must not allow the threads that hold the fabric of this great country together to become unraveled by lies big and small, by autocratic musings and appalling silence. The most fundamental thread in the American fabric is the constitutional right to vote. Dr. King spoke on the importance of voting when he visited South Carolina for the first time shortly after the passage of the 1965 Voting Rights Act. Dr. King came to the little town of King Street, and my late wife, Emily, and I were in attendance. It was here that he referenced the plethora of marches that were taking place across the country addressing the social issues of the day. And in tone, let us march to the ballot boxes. He went on to say, let us march on ballot boxes until brotherhood is not a meaningless word at the end of a prayer, but the first order of business on every legislative agenda. Let us march on ballot boxes. We march to integrate lunch counters. We march to get off the back of the bus. We march for various causes. Dr. King was saying to us, finally, it is time to march to the ballot boxes. If there was ever a time for us to listen to Dr. King's plea, it is in 2022. Listen to King's ammunition from King Street. That's the way we can celebrate Dr. King every day. Lastly, keep in mind the true meaning of the day. This country doesn't have to be made great. This country is already great. Our challenge is making this country's greatness accessible and affordable to all its people. Is my hope that as you celebrate this day, you continue this great fight and dedicate yourselves to a life of liberty and commitment to others. Thank you and Godspeed. That brings us to the close of this year's 34th annual Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. celebration. We are so inspired and touched by such an amazing speech delivered by Congressman James E. Clyburn, our keynote speaker. We would also like to thank our Mayor Daniel J. Rickerman for his comments and greetings, as well as our Parks and Recreation Department, staff members Kevin Crawford, PR manager, and also Randy Davis, the director. As we close our celebration, we close with a benediction and prayer, a blessing actually, from city councilman Edward H. McDowell Jr. Also, after the benediction, you will hear, lift every voice and sing. Again, thank you for joining us and make sure that every day is a day that you give service to your community in honor of the legacy and memory of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. And now may the peace, power, the spirit of Dr. Martin Luther King and the social justice emphasis that empowered each of us and empowers us today. Rest, rule, and abide with us. Forever, Amen.