In celebration of Martin Luther King Jr. Day, the annual MLK service was held at Mt. Zion Baptist Church in Tifton, Ga. The service gathered
community members from Tifton and surrounding counties as they came together to celebrate a moment of unity.
The MLK service in Tifton began in 2007, originally being held at the Tift Theatre of Performing Arts. It was later moved in 2008 to Springfield Baptist Church, and this year was held at Mt. Zion Baptist Church for the first time.
Founder and event organizer Ambrose King Jr. explained why those changes were made. “In the spirit of Dr. Martin Luther King, I needed to move it to a historical African American church because that is where he showed his discipline and morals within the Black church,” Ambrose King Jr. said.
Mt. Zion Baptist Church is also Ambrose King Jr.’s home church, but he moved it from Springfield to Mt. Zion because Martin Luther King Jr.’s
Father, also known as “Daddy King”, preached there while officiating the funeral of Grace Savage Faulkner, who grew up at the church.
Ambrose King Jr. also explained the importance of the event, and what it means to the community.
“This is not just a gathering of Black people,” Ambrose King Jr. Said. “There are other races and religious creeds here to help us remember who Dr. Martin Luther King was and what he stood for. The impact it gives is that it challenges us to self-reflect, and to challenge our elected officials to bleed resources back into places where it needs to be.”
Speaking of bleeding resources back into places where they are needed, a discussion on criminal record expungement was also featured during the service. Patrick Warren, Tifton’s Judicial Circuit District Attorney, discussed record restrictions. “We need to get in the community
and talk to people and help educate them on what their rights are,” Warren said. “That allows them to live lives that they are entitled to.”
The service also honored several people who have given their time, dedication, and service to their community. The honorees were Mrs.
Sharon Nunley Daniels, Ms. Shirley Strawter, Ms. Debbie Strawter, Gregory Wayne Edwards, Ms. Jessica Pisciotta, and Mrs. Michele Bassett
Cavenaugh. Each honoree was given a plaque to recognize their commitment to service.
Chantel Arrington, a member of the Sigma Gamma Rho sorority and one of the supporters of Daniels, spoke about the event and what it meant to see her basileus be honored.
“It meant a lot to see Sharon honored for the service that she does,” Arrington said. “With how divided everything seems, this day helps
bring us together and reminds us that Martin’s dream was to come together and build love and unity.”
Janet Koposko, Assistant Professor of Psychology at ABAC, attended the event and gave her remarks on what she feels it means to the community. Koposko said “Martin Luther King’s Day is not supposed to be a day where you have a long weekend and go to the beach for a weekend. It was established to be a day of service and to give back to your community. Seeing an event like this within my community makes me feel good about my community, that people care to put time and effort into organizing these events.”