HUBER HEIGHTS — Today marked the sixth Martin Luther King, Jr. celebration in Huber Heights.
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The theme of this year’s unity program, which took place inside Wayne High School due to the weather, was “Protecting our freedom, justice, and democracy.”
The Monticello Elementary School choir took the stage and sang to the crowd as part of the Huber Heights Diversity Commission’s celebration of Dr. King, which kicked off by guessing when big moments in Civil Rights history took place.
“What we’re finding is a lot of people thought they were from a long time ago, when it was really much more recent,” Yolanda Stephens, of Huber Heights, said.
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Stephens has been there for all six of the celebrations and is part of the Diversity Commission. She said they moved this year’s inside because of the cold, but added that it’s just as special.
“I’m excited just to have that diverse representation in our space because this is really what Dr. Martin Luther King was about. This is what he fought for,” Stephens said.
She told News Center 7′s Mason Fletcher that she’s glad everyone could come together in the same room.
“We’re all different and we have to be able to recognize that we’re all different, and we have to be inclusive and respectful of those differences,” she said.
Stephens added that it’s most important to her that the youth community was there. She said they should know what happened before them.
“It’s important to know history so that we don’t repeat the same things,” she said. “We don’t repeat the mistakes that we made.”
She told News Center 7 that she was glad everyone could come together in the same room and is proud of the way the event has grown over the years.
“Different people are coming out at every time and it’s just nice,” she said. “It’s nice to connect and meet people that you may not normally have an opportunity to be in the room with.”
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