ROCK ISLAND ARSENAL, Ill. -- Few seats were empty in Heritage Hall for Rock Island Arsenal's Martin Luther King Jr. observance here, Jan. 23.
The event began with the national anthem, sung by Linda Robertson. After the invocation, lead by Chaplain (Maj.) Terry Jarvis, Joint Munitions Command, a video presentation entitled, "If I Had Sneezed," was shown. In the video, King speaks about being stabbed, and how the wound was so close to his heart that if he had sneezed it would have killed him.
The guest speaker, Carmen Ausborn, equal employment opportunity specialist/disability employment manager, U.S. Army Garrison -- RIA, gave an emotional speech, bringing some audience members to tears. Ausborn, a native of Detroit, Michigan, spoke about her personal connection with King and the civil rights movement.
"My family migrated from the South," she said. "They moved north from Mississippi to find work, to what they thought was the promise land. Coming to the North, to what they thought was the promise land, they found that there was work but there were still challenges. There was still discrimination, and there was still segregation."
Ausborn could hardly contain her emotions as she read quotes from King's powerful speeches.
"There's just so much life in his words," she said. "They strike a chord in me. I'm a product of the sixties, so I can relate to some things maybe some younger people can't relate to."
"I'm just so grateful," said Ausborn. "I'm thankful for the opportunity to speak to, and connect with all these people, and give God glory."
Sgt. 1st Class Marion Wilson, equal opportunity adviser, ASC, coordinates observance events for RIA throughout the year. This month's Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. observance drew another large crowd.
"It makes me feel that my efforts were worth it," he said. "Everybody came out to support Martin Luther King and what his legacy is in equality and things like that. It made me feel really good."
"Education is the key to these observances," Wilson said. "If you can learn something from the programs we have here, and take something away from it to pass on to your peers or co-workers, that's how we all become a part of it. It was a great day, and Martin Luther King's legacy lives on."
King was the face of the civil rights movement in the 1960s. He was assassinated April 4, 1968, in Memphis, Tennessee.
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