A nearly full church was present to hear thoughts and appropriate comments at the annual Martin Luther King Day observance.
BLOOMFIELD, NJ — Bloomfield commemorated its 15th annual Martin Luther King Day, on Monday, Jan. 16. As in previous years, the program was held at the New Light Baptist Church, on Dewey Street.
The theme of the event was, “Where do we go from here … chaos or community.” This is also the title of a 1967 book written by King.
A number of speakers touched on the theme of chaos and community. The killing of unarmed blacks by law-enforcement agents was recalled, as was the cry of “black lives matter.” Also recognized was the difficulty some blacks face because of restrictive voter-registration laws.
But there was reason to take heart, too. Both sets of pews in the church were well populated. There were about 125 listeners. In recent years, less than half of this number arrived.
The people were welcomed by Bloomfield Councilwoman Wartyna Davis, who has continued the work of former Councilman Bernard Hamilton, who advocated for, and established, the official recognition of King’s day in Bloomfield.
“From those first seeds, so much has developed,” Davis said.
She mentioned the “day of service.” Davis began this three years ago and it has occurred on the weekend leading up to the King celebration. This year, the day was on Saturday, Jan. 14, and volunteers repainted parts of Berkeley Elementary School.
In addition to Davis, the council was represented by Mayor Michael Venezia, and Councilmen Nicholas Joanow, Ted Gamble and Carlos Pomares. Lauren Brown, a Bloomfield High School sophomore, sang “Stand By Me.” David Bourbon, 13, was the oratorical contest winner. This contest was held for the first time. Its theme was, “What does civil rights mean to me?” David presented a speech of fiery, black self-confidence. Afterward, Davis said what she heard made her comfortable about the future.
Another first was the youth service awards. They went to Tyler and Tana Davis; Megan Freeman; Brielle Guimaraes, and Mika Santiago, who also won an essay contest, another new award.
A Martin Luther King Day/Bloomfield service award was also inaugurated. This was given to Maria Probst, an active township volunteer and the founder of a popular blog.
Antoinette Ellis-Williams, a professor at New Jersey City University, was the keynote speaker and spoke about chaos and community.
She said she was a Jamaican whose family was stoned for not being black enough when they moved into a black neighborhood, and shunned for being black when they moved into a white neighborhood.
“But advancements have been made,” she said.
She said that ‘black lives matter,” but at the same time, police departments are demonized “because officers remain silent.”
“Chaos is embedded in society,” she said. “We favor miseducation and misinformation.
“Community is not blood. It’s looking at a person and seeing the face of God,” said Ellis-Williams.
With this, Ellis Williams concluded her address. Davis went to the podium and said these last word struck her.
“I have a view of a beautiful community,” Davis said looking at her audience.
The closing remarks were given by the Rev. Vernon Miller, of the New Light Baptist Church.
“There is always someone who needs to be fed, clothed, visited in hospitals or prisons,” he said. “Raise your window shade and look around with the eyes of love God put in all of us.” He paid special note to the awards given to the young people in the audience.
“That children are honored in the community, all is not lost,” he said.
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