Celebration honors life and teachings of civil rights leader

Martin Luther King Jr. was killed nearly 40 years ago, but his dream lives on today.

"A dream has no expiration date," said Herman Boone, one of the two keynote speakers at the Martin Luther King Jr. Celebration Dinner on Wednesday night at the Show Me Center.

Boone, along with Bill Yoast, coached the Titans football team of T.C. Williams High School in Alexandria, Va., the first year the town integrated the schools. They were able to unite the team, unite the town and inspire a nation with their story.

"What did we do?" asked Yoast, the other keynote speaker. "We did what most coaches would do."

For Yoast it was "not what [the team] did in '71, but what they're doing today."

In short, spreading the message of acceptance and proper treatment of every person.

"You don't treat people alike," Yoast said. "You treat them fairly."

The point of Martin Luther King Jr. Day, Boone said, is not to remember the bad, but to remember the good.

"Not to remember his death, but to remember his life. Not the sadness of losing him, but the privilege to know him when he was here," Boone said.

Embracing diversity and accepting a soul were King's teachings, he told the audience of 1,200 people.

Yoast said he asked himself what Martin Luther King Jr. would have said about the racial tensions on the Titans football team. "They hate one another because they don't spend any time together," he said.

He encouraged people to study other religions, other cultures.

Southeast Missouri State University students Malissa Beecham and Jerica Robinson came to the banquet just for the chance to hear the two coaches speak. They said racism can still be seen in America and the issues surrounding it need to be taken from the shadows and talked about.

"When you talk about things that aren't talked about, that allows people to see from different perspectives," Beecham said.

Both girls had also gone to the Conversation with the Coaches the night before. They said King's dream of equality hasn't quite come true in America.

"It's not there right now," Robinson said. "I think it's getting there."

Boone said eventually the torch will pass to the younger generation, and it will be up to them to keep the dream alive.

"Some day, young people, we will overcome," he said.

charris@semissourian.com

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