MLK Peace Walk focuses on justice for all
The MLK walk begins at Market Square during the STEP Americorps Peace Walk Monday afternoon in downtown Williamsport. The walk drew over 100 participants from the community and is part of a week-long series of events to commemorate Dr. King’s message of community service. Events included the walk to kick off the week and continues Jan. 19 with food prep service at New Covenant United Church of Christ from 5pm to 7pm and Jan. 20 with a Message & a Meal at Sojourner Truth Ministries from 10am to 1pm. DAVE KENNEDY/Sun-Gazette
Young and old walker make their way along E. 3rd St. during the STEP Americorps Peace Walk Monday afternoon in downtown Williamsport. The walk drew over 100 participants from the community and is part of a week-long series of events to commemorate Dr. King’s message of community service. Events included the walk to kick off the week and continues Jan. 19 with food prep service at New Covenant United Church of Christ from 5pm to 7pm and Jan. 20 with a Message & a Meal at Sojourner Truth Ministries from 10am to 1pm. DAVE KENNEDY/Sun-Gazette
A volunteer from AmeriCorps hands out stickers during the STEP Americorps Peace Walk Monday afternoon in downtown Williamsport. The walk drew over 100 participants from the community and is part of a week-long series of events to commemorate Dr. King’s message of community service. Events included the walk to kick off the week and continues Jan. 19 with food prep service at New Covenant United Church of Christ from 5pm to 7pm and Jan. 20 with a Message & a Meal at Sojourner Truth Ministries from 10am to 1pm. DAVE KENNEDY/Sun-Gazette
The MLK walk begins at Market Square during the STEP Americorps Peace Walk Monday afternoon in downtown Williamsport. The walk drew over 100 participants from the community and is part of a week-long series of events to commemorate Dr. King’s message of community service. Events included the walk to kick off the week and continues Jan. 19 with food prep service at New Covenant United Church of Christ from 5pm to 7pm and Jan. 20 with a Message & a Meal at Sojourner Truth Ministries from 10am to 1pm. DAVE KENNEDY/Sun-Gazette
Young and old walker make their way along E. 3rd St. during the STEP Americorps Peace Walk Monday afternoon in downtown Williamsport. The walk drew over 100 participants from the community and is part of a week-long series of events to commemorate Dr. King’s message of community service. Events included the walk to kick off the week and continues Jan. 19 with food prep service at New Covenant United Church of Christ from 5pm to 7pm and Jan. 20 with a Message & a Meal at Sojourner Truth Ministries from 10am to 1pm. DAVE KENNEDY/Sun-Gazette
A volunteer from AmeriCorps hands out stickers during the STEP Americorps Peace Walk Monday afternoon in downtown Williamsport. The walk drew over 100 participants from the community and is part of a week-long series of events to commemorate Dr. King’s message of community service. Events included the walk to kick off the week and continues Jan. 19 with food prep service at New Covenant United Church of Christ from 5pm to 7pm and Jan. 20 with a Message & a Meal at Sojourner Truth Ministries from 10am to 1pm. DAVE KENNEDY/Sun-Gazette
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More than 100 braved the cold temperatures Monday to attend the Peace Walk on Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s holiday in the City of Williamsport.
Standing before the statue of Jackie Robinson at Market Square, the event sponsored by STEP AmeriCorps included remarks before and during the mile walk.
"It starts with me, shifting the culture climate," is this year's theme for a week of activities.
Carrie Bruning, program manager, STEP AmeriCorps, noted how King's word can be used today for those who feel the call to serve others in society.
"Everybody can be great because everybody can serve. You don't have to have a college degree to serve," King once said. "You don't have to make your subject and verb agree to serve. You only need a heart full of grace, a soul generated by love," King said.
In this political year when a president will be elected, Elliot Copeland, an aide to the U.S. Senator John Fetterman, D-Braddock, discussed the senator's efforts to ensure a fair election.
He also highlighted King's call for fairness and justice for all Americans, leaving no place for racial bias or prejudice, referencing the recent racial slur on video allegedly used by a member of the Williamsport Bureau of Police.
When there was legislation to create MLK Day in 1983, the vote was filibustered for 19 days, Copeland said.
Fetterman, an original co-sponsor of the Freedom to Vote Act, wants all registered Pennsylvanians and registered voters across the U.S. to be able to cast their vote for who they want to see as their political leaders.
The bill would expand voter registration, limit the ability to unfairly remove voters from the rolls and establish Election Day as a federal holiday, Copeland said. It would allow all U.S. citizens to vote in federal elections and make it a federal crime to corruptly interfere with voter registration, he said.
Further activities for Dream Week in Williamsport will include: a Poverty Simulation with a dinner and discussion hosted by the Central PA Food Bank and Pennsylvania College of Technology at the PCT Field House, 209 College Ave. from 5 to 7:30 p.m. Wednesday; a Food Prep Service project from 5 to 7 p.m. Friday at New Covenant United Church of Christ, 202 E. Third St., and a Message and Meal at Sojourner Truth Ministries, 501 High St., from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday.
Those interested in more information may look at www.stepcorp.org/MLK.