Utah civil rights activist calls for involvement on MLK Jr. Day: ‘Everbody can serve’
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- Around 200 people gathered at the Marshall White Center in Ogden on Monday, Jan. 16, 2023, for a breakfast to honor Martin Luther King Jr. on MLK Jr. Day. Many made signs for a subsequent march, including, from left, Yemma Evans, Amina Schlichter, Addy Evans, Noah Evans and Sophie Furse, students from Davis County.
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- Celebrants of Martin Luther King Jr. Day carry handmade signs as they march to the Ogden Amphitheater on Monday, Jan. 16, 2023. The public demonstration followed a breakfast held at the Marshall White Center.
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- Kyerinda Moore of Ogden props up a sign made during a breakfast to honor Martin Luther King Jr. at the Marshall White Center on Monday, Jan. 16, 2023. Participants later marched with the signs to the Ogden Amphitheater to mark MLK Jr. Day.
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- Eddie Thompson Jr., an advisor to the Utah Martin Luther King Jr. Human Rights Commission, speaks during a breakfast to honor Martin Luther King Jr. at the Marshall White Center in Ogden on Monday, Jan. 16, 2023. Thompson was the featured speaker at the event marking MLK Jr. Day.
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- Around 200 people gathered at the Marshall White Center in Ogden on Monday, Jan. 16, 2023, for a breakfast to honor Martin Luther King Jr. on MLK Jr. Day. Many made signs for a subsequent march, including Sydney Tesch, left, and Kacy Olsen.
OGDEN — Martin Luther King Jr. may be lauded far and wide for his efforts in fighting for civil rights.
But pushing for change doesn’t have to be the domain only of high-profile leaders like King.
“I would say everybody can be great because everybody can serve. That’s one of Dr. King’s quotes and it’s true,” said Eddie Thompson Jr. He’s an advisor to the Utah Martin Luther King Jr. Human Rights Commission and served as the main speaker at a breakfast Monday, Martin Luther King Jr. Day, to honor the late civil rights leader.
Speaking to a crowd of perhaps 200 or so at the Marshall White Center, Thompson encouraged those present to get involved, working with existing groups that advocate for the African-American community. He urged listeners to try to do something to further the cause on a regular basis — once a week, once a month, perhaps.
“We need all of us to turn up at our school board meetings, to raise our voices at the different government meetings,” said Thompson, who traveled to Ogden from his home in Salt Lake City for Monday’s event. “We need all of us to speak up against injustices. We need all of our allies to speak up and hold folks accountable.”
Those assembled at the Marshall White Center marched later in the morning to the Ogden Amphitheater, where others also addressed the civil rights cause. Elementary, junior high, high school and college students and others made signs during the breakfast to carry during the march.
Back at the breakfast, Thompson noted that the push to bolster civil rights can be difficult in Utah given the relatively small Black population.
“Yes, we do have haters. Yes, folks want to keep things status quo. But I believe there’s enough of us, as we can see in this room, that want to make a change, that want to make a difference, that want to do something different,” Thompson said.
What’s more, he added, the rewards of bolstering the rights of everybody are beneficial to the broader community, not just minority populations.
“I think we have to say when everybody feels included, when everybody feels heard, then everybody can excel,” he said. Bolstering the rights of one group, he said, doesn’t detract from another group.
During his presentation, Thompson noted his efforts to get a Utah employer to recruit from the Black community. The company had been mulling such change and the prodding moved it to action, underscoring the import of being involved and speaking out.
“If we didn’t ask the question, he may not adapt it, change may not happen,” Thompson said. “So we’ve got to push the envelope, we’ve got to push the question.”
Kyerinda Moore of Ogden was at the Martin Luther King Jr. breakfast with her daughter Justice.
She noted that some people express surprise when she says she’s from Utah, astonished the state is home to Black people. Accordingly, seeing the large number of people at Monday’s event — African Americans, white people and others — inspired her. “I like how the community is coming together,” she said.
The Ogden chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, Weber State University, the City of Ogden and other groups helped organize Monday’s event.