MLK Day Celebration: 'Let us fight for justice'

“We are all united here in a beautiful way, in equality,” Odell’s Graciella Gomez said at the conclusion of the concert of celebration headlined by a community choir and performers including Carlos Alvarez of Hood River.

The concert followed a potluck, preceded by a set of four workshops attended by about 100 people, on immigration law, health equity, climate change, and Native American history. The program was organized by Gorge Ecumenical Ministries, a group of 12 faith communities working to raise awareness of social justice, climate and spiritual concerns in the Gorge.

Speakers included Sheila Dale, who told spoke of the discrimination her grandmother experienced in Louisiana in the 1950s, and Yesenia Castro, daughter of Mexican immigrants. Mark Reynolds of Odell read, “Why We Can’t Wait,” by Dr. King, Rev. John Boonstra addressed climate change in a poetry reading, and Mayor Paul Blackburn spoke bilingually and played the banjo while leading the congregation in the spiritual, “We Shall Not Be Moved.”

Gomez asked four participants to come to the stage and join hands: Castro, who serves on the Mid-Columbia Regional Health Equity Coalition; Dae Dahlquist, who is Anglo; Sheila Dale, and Lana Jack, a native of the Celilo Wy’am.

“All these colors — we can see the different colors. That’s what a lot of people pay attention to now,” Gomez said. “Why? Can you imagine? People are looked at for being Latino or black, for being a tribal person, and even white. Brothers and sisters, we have to break this. Martin Luther King taught us that ‘yes, we can.’ He isn’t here with us anymore, but you can be Martin Luther King,” Gomez said, through interpreter Lorena Sprager.

“You can be the difference. We can be the difference. Even if it doesn’t seem possible, even if you don’t believe it in 2016, we are experiencing discrimination. We immigrants don’t have driver’s licenses, we have no way of identifying ourselves. Do you know why? Because so many people don’t make the effort to vote for just laws. There is more focus on the economy than inequality. You and I can make the difference and be the difference. Mother Teresa of Calcutta said, ‘Prayer without action means nothing.’ Let us fight for equality, liberty and justice.”

Dahlquist, who is 11, described becoming aware of climate change by age 4, and working on the issue since he was 7. His address drew a standing ovation. In it, Dahlquist quoted Dr. King’s concept of “extremists for love,” saying “the question is not if we are extremists but what kind of extremist we will be. Extremists of hate or love, for the preservation of injustice or the extension of justice?’

“Martin Luther King reminds us we need to take our anger and frustration and act upon it in non-destructive ways,” Dahlquist said. “The world does not need more violence. The world is in dire need of extremists of if truth, goodness, and love.

“I am here today to tell you you are powerful beyond measure, that your voice matters. They tell us we are small and powerless. It is easy to dismiss yourself and not work to change anything, but that’s not true. Our nation needs all people, regardless of age to speak out. Do not operate from fear. It is inside you to operate from a place of hope. The capacity for hope is the most significant fact of life.”