Community members, civic leaders, HPU athletic teams and elected officials joined together Monday morning to attend the 8th Annual Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. observance in Brownwood. The ceremony began with the National Anthem being performed by the Brownwood High School band. Members of ROC (Revitalizing Our Community) led the ceremony. Mayor Stephen Haynes gave opening remarks. There was special music followed by the keynote speaker, from the Brownwood Class of 1972, Val Rhodes. Though he has spent his professional career as an educator and coach in the DFW area, he shared his love for Brownwood. “I love everybody in Brownwood. I mean everybody in Brownwood. I don’t know what’s happened the last 40 something years since I’ve left, but I know one thing. I had a great start in Brownwood,” Rhodes said.
Rhodes used humor in his stories and shared some of his experience as an educator. He then reminded the crowd that Dr. King called on all of us to reject prejudices and be aware of the humanity and beauty of all people, regardless of stereotypical images and the color of people’s skin. “King’s life had a seismic impact on America and world society. His life, work and legacy have been honored with winning the Nobel Peace Prize, a national holiday, a national memorial in D.C., a national historical park in Atlanta. There will be tributes all over this nation today. There will be parades, there will be speeches, there will be basketball games. But my question is, what about tomorrow? What about next week?” Rhodes said one of the greatest tributes we can do for Dr. King is to live out his dream and learn to live together daily.