Keeping the dream alive

SHUQUALAK, Miss. (WCBI) – Black History Month may be over, but one local congregation is making efforts to spread cultural awareness year round.

Church members said looking to the past may give us answers to the future.

Asbury United Methodist Church in Shuqualak held a special “Keeping the Dream Alive” ceremony early Sunday afternoon.

The event focuses on taking the message of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. further than the month of February.

“Our vision for today is to just educate people. The month of February is Black History Month, but Dr. King’s dream was to celebrate it 365. So we want to be able to let people know… Come together, lift up God, lift up the Lord, Lift up the name of Jesus –whomever you worship so that we can come together as one body of Christ,” said event coordinator Karen Amos.

Event organizers said understanding our past is crucial.

“I think in order to successfully navigate forward you have to understand where you’ve come from and celebrate history because hidden in history are clues of destiny,” said guest speaker Bishop R. J. Matthews.

“Remembering our past will help us to not repeat the past, first of all. If we remember that we can honor them for what they’ve done. We see where we’re at now, and we’ll know what changes we have to make so that we don’t repeat the past again,” said Pastor Ronald Anthony.

They also said the message of inclusivity is especially important for young people.

“We should teach our youth, and we should teach our kids. Then they will grow up hopefully better than we did. That way we’ll still be changing our future,” said Anthony.

At the end of the day, the goal of the ceremony is to bring people together.

“This part of the community where our church is located is a predominately African American community. We want them to know that although this is a predominately African American