Leaders gather to honor Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
By Anessa Myers
Published in News on January 21, 2008 2:11 PM
Chilly temperatures didn't stop nearly 600 people from gathering at the Goldsboro Raleigh District Assembly Monday morning to celebrate Martin Luther King Jr. Day.
The 20th Annual Martin Luther King Jr. Breakfast started out with a tribute to King. City Councilman the Rev. Charles Williams celebrated King's memory in his invocation, saying that King was "without a doubt, a modern day prophet." King wanted people to think of each other "as brothers and sisters," Williams said, not as black and white.
"Some of us may recall the memory of his eloquent preaching and relevant voice," he said.
Keynote speaker Gwendolyn Boyd, who holds a bachelor's degree in mathematics from Alabama State University and a master's in mechanical engineering from Yale, credited King with giving her a vision of a better world. She went to college during the civil rights movement and now encourages young blacks to learn more about science and mathematics as a way to improve their lives.
Mayor Al King said he was somewhat surprised by the turnout.
"I knew it would be a lot, but I didn't know we would have this many," he said.
Many other local government and business leaders, along with several legislators, attended the event.