MIDDLEBURG — Silver Oak Academy celebrated the life and legacy of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. on Thursday with history, art and music.
"It's something we believe in," said Kevin McLeod, program director at the academy, a residential treatment program in Middleburg for court-appointed at-risk male youths. "It's an opportunity to bring together different genres."
McLeod said he began the annual event six years ago with the goal of bringing together people from different backgrounds to celebrate King's goal of respect and equality.
"I loved it," said junior Kevin Toney. "Every second of it."
Students and members of the community heard music from the Silver Oak Academy band, Shepherd University Jazz Combo and the Asbury United Methodist Church Choir.
Miles Ward, director of the Frederick County Human Relations Department, spoke about King's life and his enduring influence on others.
"His life had a seismic impact on race relations in the United States," he said.
Wendell Poindexter, program manager of the art department at Carroll Community College, told the crowd he remembers going to the Great Frederick Fair as a child and seeing signs saying "whites only" and attending Tivoli Theatre and being made to sit in the balcony.
Poindexter said at the time he was too young to see how the work of King and other civil rights leaders would affect him, but now he recognizes the roads paved for him.
Toney said he was glad to see the presenters and performers come out to the event, because part of King's message was about working together.
"The part that a lot of guys my age don't understand is that at that time, a lot of different people came together," he said.
Junior Derick Smith spoke to the crowd about a trip to Atlanta and surrounding cities he took with three other students where he heard from civil rights movement leaders who led protests and boycotts in the 1960s.
"They taught us a lot of stuff that you don't learn in the textbooks," he said.
One thing he learned while on the trip was that civil rights are for everyone, not just African-Americans, Smith said.
When he returned from the trip earlier this month, Smith said he had to take time to process all of the historical sites he had seen and firsthand accounts he heard.
"I was listening, but I wasn't really soaking the knowledge in," he said.
Sheila Leatherbury, lead teacher at Silver Oak, said the school organizes the annual celebration of King to give students the opportunity to learn more about his legacy and the dream.
"We want our kids to know who he is," she said.
The Rev. LaDelle Brooks, pastor at Asbury United Methodist Church, also addressed students about what they can learn from King's life.
Brooks said the civil rights movement didn't begin and end in the 1950s and 1960s — it continues today.
"We all have a dream," she said.
Leatherbury said Silver Oak makes connections in the community to get people and groups involved in events such as the one held Thursday.
"It's kind of grown each year, and I look forward to it being a strong community event in the future," McLeod said.
Reach staff writer Heather Cobun at 410-857-7898 or email heather.cobun@carrollcountytimes.com.
