EASTON, Pa. — Speakers at Greater Shiloh Church of Easton's annual observance of Martin Luther King Jr. Day on Monday celebrated King’s legacy while grappling with President Donald Trump’s inauguration earlier in the day.
As Trump’s second term dawns, “We are at a crossroads between history, the present and our future," said Montgomery County Commissioner Jamila Winder, the program's keynote speaker.
"There is a complex tapestry of emotions woven into this moment. No matter how any of you are feeling today, we will keep working and building together.
“Harness your anger, your sadness, your fear. Let those feelings resonate, because they are important emotions that help guide our values. Let them inspire positive action.”
“We all have a duty to nurture communities where everyone has an opportunity to thrive and succeed, because that is how we keep Dr. King’s dream alive.”Montgomery County Commissioner Jamila Winder
Winder held up her family as an example of King’s dream as she understands it: creating a better, more equal world for the next generation.
Winder said she is a product of her mother and grandmother, who taught her to believe in her own capability and value, and who persevered within unfair systems to give better lives to their children.
She said they laid the foundation for her own experience building a successful career in the education business, becoming the first Black president of the Montgomery County Board of Commissioners and working to empower Black youth and young adults in turn.
“With my memories of my grandmother and mother within me, I aspire to be a source of inspiration,” Winder said.
“We all have a duty to nurture communities where everyone has an opportunity to thrive and succeed, because that is how we keep Dr. King’s dream alive.”
'I was actually encouraged'
None of the speakers grappled with Trump’s inauguration more directly than Northampton County Executive Lamont McClure.
“As I contemplated the sad irony of the celebration of Dr. King's birthday on the same day as the inauguration of the current president, I struggled to find a way to reconcile these two things other than coincidence,” McClure said.
He held up King’s six principles of nonviolent resistance as a road map for responding to Trump's next four years in office.
“But of course, our country is at a crossroads right now.”Greater Shiloh Senior pastor Phillip Davis
Greater Shiloh’s senior pastor, Phillip Davis, began his sermon Monday by sharing that he intended to keep a promise to his wife: that he would “be nice when I got up here today.”
“But of course, our country is at a crossroads right now,” Davis said. “As I was thinking about the transition of this new administration into the space of leading this nation, I was actually encouraged.
"I was encouraged because there was a peaceful transfer of power.”
Now as ever, King offers an example to follow, Davis said, guided by love, faith, compassion and a desire for equity.
“Regardless of what's happening in the political realm,” he said, “we have to make sure that we do as Dr. King, and that is to choose love.”
As an example of Greater Shiloh’s work, Davis pointed to the church’s community development projects offering affordable housing, transitional housing programs, senior residences, educational programs, a food pantry and a winter warming shelter.
Among the audience, smaller this year than usual because of recent snow, were local politicians state Rep. Bob Freeman, D-Northampton; Easton City Council members Taiba Sultana, Frank Pintabone, Crystal Rose and Ken Brown; Northampton County Controller Tara Zrinski; and former U.S. Rep. Susan Wild.
