LONG BEACH, NY. — On a frigid day that saw the occasional piece of ice falling from a Long Beach power line, calls echoed through a megaphone on West Park Avenue urging people to “Show me what America looks like!” The calls were met with responses of “This is what America looks like!” It was Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day in Long Beach, and a crowd that numbered into the hundreds was marching through the city to celebrate the legacy of a man referred to during the festivities as, “The Dreamer.”

The march began at 11:30 a.m., as members of the Long Beach City Council, the Long Beach Latino Civic Association, Moms Demand Action, multiple churches and Long Beach High School students set out from the North side of Laurelton Boulevard to walk East along Park Avenue, turning left onto Riverside Boulevard, doubling back until they hit Rev. JJ Evans Boulevard, finishing their trip through the city’s streets by walking to the Martin Luther King Center. All the while, chants of “Keep the dream alive,” “Keep the hope alive,” and “MLK Day” rang out from the crowd. On one occasion, the marching crowd started singing, “We shall overcome.”

(Credit: Patch Contributor) Rev. Ronald McHenry leads the crowd down West Park Avenue in Long Beach. In the background, members of the Long Beach High School Step Team and Grand Marshall Herman Prophett hold a banner honoring Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

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As the crowd filtered into the gym at the Martin Luther King Center, roughly two dozen tables with additional bleacher seating were set up to accommodate the crowd that organizers estimated was over 300 people. Shortly after noon, the celebratory program began with Minister Brian Horne leading the pledge of allegiance and singing “Lift Every Voice And Sing.” Next, Horne introduced Long Beach’s own Lisa Hayes, who would serve as the master of ceremonies at Monday’s proceedings.

“Today is a day of service. Dr. King lived in service, he died in service,” Hayes told the crowd. “We recognize it as a day on, not a day off.”

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Attendees heard an invocation from Bishop Mark Moses, and welcome remarks from King Center vice chair Adam Dejesus, who reminded the crowd of this year’s Martin Luther King Jr. Day theme, “Mission: Possible.”

“That is a message that unity is possible, service is possible, healing is possible, progress is possible,” Dejesus said. Those things, the co-chair of the committee that planned the celebration said, are possible, “not because it’s easy, but because we choose it.”

In his keynote address, Rev. Ronald McHenry spoke about what celebrating Dr. Martin Luther King Jr’s legacy means in the current political moment, invoking the name of Renee Nicole Good, who was shot by an ICE agent this month.

“Say her name, Renee Good,” McHenry said. “Say her name. Say her name.”

After every call to say her name, the crowd said “Renee Good.”

“The Bible says, ‘How can you love God and yet hate your brother?’ I don’t know Renee Good, but I don’t have to know Renee Good to feel what her family feels… The cross has taught us to love our neighbor as our friend,” McHenry said. “For those who have the courage to stand up, I’m asking for you to stand up. It doesn’t matter how old you are, it doesn’t matter what you look like, it doesn’t matter what you’ve been through…We have to stand up in this age that is retrenching our rights.”

Moving forward, McHenry said, would require unity.

“It is time that we awaken the dream that is inside us. This mission that is possible, this mission to bring us together, no matter if it’s red or blue, no matter if it’s immigration or someone who’s a natural born citizen, we have to stoke the fires of justice and unity,” McHenry said. “We must put aside the differences and see the love and common ground in one and other. I understand the journey is a long journey, but my elders taught me that the battle is not given to the strong, nor the race to the swift, but to those that endure. We have to endure this moment.”

The celebration was also marked by performances by the youth of Long Beach, with the Long Beach High School step team, the Smith sisters, the Chosen Generations Praise Dance Ministry all dancing throughout the program. Spoken word was performed by Omar Powell & Mikayla Williams, as well as Harmony Wells, Jaselle Elrod & Kim Smith.

In the Youth Introduction portion of the program, Williams led the crowd in a call and response, saying, “I am the dream” at the front of the gym.

The youthful contributions to Monday’s program weren’t lost on the adults in the room, either.

“I need everybody to repeat after me: I believe that children are the future,” Hayes told the crowd Monday.

While there was a strong youth presence Monday, there were also attendees who had been working in the Long Beach community for decades. Among them was 78-year-old John Henry Simpkins, a co-founder of the Long Beach Martin Luther King Center.

“With all the trials and tribulations we’ve been through since the inception of this center, today I’m feeling really warm. The turnout, I think, is beautiful. I think they’re still keeping the dream alive. And that’s what it is about, keep moving forward with the dream, don’t let it turn into a nightmare,” Simpkins told Patch. “Keep dreaming, keep making pieces and pieces of the dream come to realization. That’s what’s beautiful about it, and every year this crowd gets larger. That’s what I look forward to…I’ve been here for almost all of [the Martin Luther King Jr. Day celebrations]. When we founded it in 1968, we envisioned it continuing to grow. There were a whole lot of road blocks, pitfalls, we overcame them. You see, today, over 50 years, we’re still here. And that’s thanks to the people of the community, the people of the city council, and the people of Long Beach, the citizens who felt the need for this to be here.”

Also among the attendees with decades of service in Long Beach were the Grand Marshals, Mother Kathy Williams and Herman Prophett. Williams was celebrated for her contributions to the NAACP and the North Park Civic Association, with Hayes highlighting Mother Kathy’s rigorous tutelage as a Sunday school teacher. Prophett, on the other hand, was celebrated for his decades of service as a volunteer firefighter in Long Beach, rising to the level of captain in the fire department and serving as a public safety officer for both Nassau Community College and Uniondale Public Schools. Prophett was also awarded with the Hempstead Fire Department’s life-saving award in 2023, after he pulled a man from a crashed vehicle before it erupted in flames.

“Each of them represents the spirit of Dr. King’s vision through service, leadership, and lasting impact in the community,” Dejesus told Patch.

When it was her turn to step up to the microphone, Mother Kathy chose not to speak, but to sing, leading the crowd in an impromptu rendition of the gospel song, “Down Through the Years.”

“Down through the years, the Lord’s been good to me,” Williams sang out.

For his part, Prophett told the people of Long Beach to believe in themselves, even through life’s hardships.

“Life challenges your confidence in yourself, but you’ve got to believe,” Prophett said. “Apply that power…let that light shine…continue to represent what we stand for, and no matter what color you are, we’re here.”

For the organizers of Monday’s celebration, the coming together of young people and their elders was one of the most important parts of the event.

“It was the entire goal. In order to move forward, you need to make sure you understand your histories. You need to know where you came from to know where you’ve got to go,” Dejesus said. “And it was important that we honored those who came and, essentially, paved the way. And it’s important that we inspire the people that are going to come after and fill their places.”

For Simpkins, the presence of so many young people was exciting. At 78 years-old, the co-founder of the building that hosted Monday’s events said he wanted to show those young people that he supported them.

“It’s really about young people. They’re carrying the torch, we’re passing it. I’m 78, but when I see young people in here I’m impressed, because they’re the ones that are carrying the torch, and that warms my heart when I see that,” Simpkins said. “Now I’m ‘old guard,’ we’ve still got to show, to let them know that we still support them. That’s the most important thing, it’s all about being a team, teamwork. Everybody has a part, everybody has to play their part and move forward.”

After the afternoon’s program concluded, the whole crowd, young and old, lined up for a buffet-style meal, eaten together at the tables in the gym.

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