'Unwilling to lie about the moment we are in': Alexandria MLK program takes pointed tone on King's 97th birthday
Speakers draw parallels between civil rights era and present day at 53rd annual memorial program
On what would have been Martin Luther King Jr.’s 97th birthday, speakers at the city’s 53rd annual memorial program drew sharp parallels between the civil rights era and the present day Thursday evening, with calls for resistance to federal immigration policies and warnings against a sanitized version of King’s legacy.
The program at the George Washington Masonic National Memorial featured music, poetry, and dramatic readings, but took on an urgent political tone as Rev. Dr. Quardricos Bernard Driskell of Beulah Baptist Church delivered a pointed invocation.
“We stand here tonight unwilling to lie about the moment we are in,” Driskell said. “We remember Dr. King not as a servant, but as a threat. A prophet who named American sins and paid his life.”
He challenged the audience to reject a softened version of King’s legacy.
“We remember the Reverend Dr. King not as a dreamer safely buried in history, but as a prophet who warned this nation that racism, materialism and militarism would be its moral undoing,” Driskell said.
Driskell explicitly criticized current immigration enforcement, invoking St. Augustine’s principle that “an unjust law is no law at all” while condemning “policies of this administration that continues to criminalize migration, that empower ICE agents to raid homes, tear families apart.”
He closed by praying for discomfort: “May we ask that you, throughout this year, overturn our thrones, expose our hypocrisy and disrupt our comforts. And as I close this prayer, if this prayer makes us uncomfortable — good.”
Mayor Alyia Gaskins officially proclaimed the day as Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day in Alexandria and called on attendees to move beyond passive celebration.
“Take nothing else away from Dr. King’s life and his legacy — it should be a reminder to each of us that the work of peace is not passive. It is work,” Gaskins said.
She described a nation in turmoil.
“In this moment that we are living in, that is not much different than the time that Dr. King was living in, a moment marked by chaos, division, racism, hatred,” Gaskins said. “We need your hands. We need your feet. We need your voice.”
Gaskins said she had attended a youth poetry slam earlier Thursday, where students expressed their commitment to social change through art.
The interfaith, intergenerational program featured performances by the Alexandria Children’s Chorus and musical selections including “Lift Every Voice and Sing” and “His Eye is On the Sparrow.”
Armarni Thompson performed “Rise Up,” and Lucas Griffin sang Stevie Wonder’s “Happy Birthday,” written in the 1980s to advocate for the King federal holiday.
City Poet Laureate Christi Donoso shared an original poem titled “Before Dawn.”
Gaskins and council members Jacinta Green and John Chapman joined other participants in a dramatic reading of King’s “Letter from Birmingham Jail.”
Several city council and school board members attended, along with City Manager James Parajon, Police Chief Tarrick McGuire, and Sheriff Sean Casey.
Throughout the program, a roving reporter asked attendees why it remains important to recognize King’s accomplishments. One attendee, identifying herself as the mother of an 11-year-old Black boy, said she is “digging into his words to hopefully find the inspiration to not only just be quiet and maybe more passive, but to really find my voice.”
Another attendee, John, emphasized the need to move beyond commonly quoted passages to understand King’s full message.
“When we really go back and look at more of his speeches and his letters, you do also see the fire that inspired,” he said, noting King’s 32 arrests demonstrated “someone that is actually taking action. It’s more than just the words.”
Former Del. Mark Levine called for “good trouble” in the spirit of the late Rep. John Lewis.
“We are facing right now, I would say, the greatest level of violence and injustice we have faced since the 1960s,” Levine said. “I think it’s time we fight them legally and nonviolently, but as hard as we can.”
The program also honored McArthur Myers, a longtime committee member who died in early December at age 73. The committee credited Myers in the program with working “tirelessly to promote healing, bring accountability and instill community memory around our city’s racial justice legacy.”
Rosa Byrd, chair of the MLK Memorial Planning Committee and an Alexandria Living Legend, delivered closing remarks, noting the program’s growth over the years.
“Every year, not only is this birthday party getting better, I feel, and hopefully you feel the same way. We have made some progress among each other,” Byrd said.
The memorial program traces its origins to 1973, when civic leader Alice P. Morgan initiated the city’s first King celebration — a decade before President Ronald Reagan signed the federal holiday into law.
A couple of hundred people braved below-freezing temperatures Thursday to fill the memorial’s auditorium. The evening closed with the Alexandria Children’s Chorus leading the audience in “We Are the World”.
As the nation prepares to observe Martin Luther King Jr. Day on Monday, readers might consider the three questions the roving reporter posed throughout the night:
What are some of MLK’s words that resonate with you?
Why do you think it is important, particularly now, to dedicate time towards the recognition of Dr. King’s accomplishments?
What is a great way to honor MLK’s life and legacy?