We're one month into 2008, and some of us have made (and broken) new commitments to things we care about. Some people might have written these resolutions in journals in hopes that they can look back at their scribbles as reminders.

Others took a more ceremonial approach by participating in Kwanzaa, which for seven days through to Jan. 1 is a reminder of the importance of individual contributions to one's family and the world.

Last month, the Benjamin Banneker Historical Park and Museum in Baltimore County was one of many venues that held such celebrations. The event focused on children.

For several hours, parents and children sang with performers and listened to storytellers, who gave messages of hope for today and tomorrow.

The museum, at 300 Oella Ave., also used this occasion to unveil its newest exhibit, The North Star, honoring the life of abolitionist Frederick Douglass, who started a newspaper by the same name in the 1840s in Rochester, N.Y.

Douglass, a celebrated figure during Black History Month, was a Maryland native and named the publication after the North Star, said to be the shining light that slaves followed to freedom.

We are now in Black History Month, and another noted figure we celebrate this time of year is the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., who led the civil rights movement until his assassination in Memphis, Tenn., on April 4, 1968.

Some of you celebrated King's birthday Jan. 15 by going to Meyerhoff Symphony Hall, where Darin Atwater and the Soulful Symphony hosted the Annual Tribute to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., which included the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra and the Morgan State University Choir.

The night included presentations by Gov. Martin O'Malley and Mayor Sheila Dixon and a National Great Blacks in Wax Museum exhibit of lifelike statues of historical figures, including that of Nathan Carter, the late Morgan choir director.

unisun@baltsun.com