MLK Day event emphasizes unity in the work toward social justice

“We shall overcome, and I’ll tell you why: Because the arc of the moral universe is long but it bends toward justice ... No lie can live forever.”

Participants looked for ways Monday to apply King’s teaching in the national context of 2020.

Paraphrasing King, Ann Harris of Hood River said that “whatever affects one directly affects all indirectly.”

Harris said in her recollection of growing up in a segregated education system in southern California in the 1960s, “We can’t build love and community by ourselves, we have to do it together.

“If anyone is left out we cannot get there. Everyone has a role to play, everyone’s gifts are needed.

“In our world today, there are forces at work that are steering us down a path of deep division,” Harris said. “Which path will we choose? The path of separation or do we come together to support each other and work for justice and a better world for all human beings?”

The annual event,sponsored by Gorge Ecumenical Ministries at Riverside Community Church, featured music by the MLK Day community choir, pianist Bob Schwartz, and Martha Verduzco and friends, and speakers Julia Garcia of Hood River County School Board, Graciela Gomez, and Rev. Andy Wade.