Saturday on these page we published an editorial about the impact of Martin Luther King Jr.’s legacy, in his own words (https://enewscourier.com/2025/01/18/our-view-words-to-live-by/).

Monday, we saw those words realized in Athens, Alabama, through two separate but connected events.

In the morning, a program centered on Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and an annual associated essay and art content shone the light on our students — the future of our county.

Shortly after this, at Sweet Home Missionary Baptist Church, an awards-lunch presentation with guest speaker Shannon Moore continued the day celebrating the work of the civil rights leader.

King was assassinated in 1968 in an attempt to silence his voice. Ironically, that voice and his words are heard more loudly today than they were more than half a century ago. The evidence of this was on full display Monday.

“The function of education is to teach one to think intensively and to think critically. Intelligence plus character — that is the goal of true education,” King said in one speech. The art and words from our students this week bore this out. The talent and critical thinking on display during Monday’s essay and art content is undisputed evidence that King’s words resonant today, as were the themes that bore out others of King’s famous words: “Life’s most persistent and urgent question is: ‘What are you doing for others?’” and “The time is always right to do what is right,” prominent among those.

Perhaps most promising about that day, though, was the diversity and breadth of those who attended one or both events. Race and creed saw no boundaries Monday as Limestone County came together to fulfill King’s dream, shining the light not only on our students, but our community, with reverberations of the words that resound today: “Darkness cannot drive out darkness, only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate, only love can do that.”