NAVAL SUPPORT ACTIVITY PANAMA CITY — The Navy base honored the life of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. with an annual ceremony Thursday.
Keynote speaker the Rev. Dr. Rufus Wood Jr. challenged audience members at Naval Support Activity Panama City (NSA PC) to have a positive influence on their community.
“This day of service is a way to transform Dr. King’s life, ministry and his teachings into a time of community action,” Wood told the audience. “And through doing this we will be able to improve the quality of life of all people in our community.”
Wood is the pastor and founder of Love Center Missionary Baptist Church and president of the Bay County branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. His speech spanned milestones of King’s life and included names of people who influenced a younger King, such as his father and maternal grandfather, both of whom were pastors at Atlanta’s Ebenezer Baptist Church, a sizable congregation that King would co-pastor.
“Dr. King was able to make a difference and influence millions all around the world because his life had been influenced by the lives of others,” Wood said. He “was a transformational leader.”
Active-duty personnel from NSA Panama City port operations read quotations by King that spoke to the importance of being active in a community and not being silent in the face of injustice.
Darnell Allen, machine mate 1st class, said he was inspired to learn more about Wood and the church he pastors.
Wood’s speech about King was “great,” Allen said. It told “the history that Martin Luther King Jr. brought us with civil rights leadership.”
Capt. Phillip Dawson III, commanding officer at Naval Surface Warfare Center Panama City Division, had opened the ceremony with a childhood story about the benefits of growing up in a racially diverse situation.
“I just find it hard to imagine if I hadn’t lived in Navy towns where I got exposed to all of those different cultures and made all those different friends — my life would have been very bland without that,” Dawson said. “And this is an opportunity to recognize we’ve come a long way and we got a little bit farther to go and together we can do it.”
MLK Day events
Saturday
What: Martin Luther King Jr. Day march
When: 10:30 a.m.
Where: Bay County Courthouse, 300 E. Fourth St.
Who: Hosted by Advisory Committee for Urban Revitalization Equity (ACURE)
Details: For info, contact Myron Hines at 276-1097; for commemorative shirts, contact Charlotte Marshall at 271-0560.
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What: Martin Luther King Jr. commemorative breakfast
When: 8 a.m.
Where: Glenwood Community Center, 722 E. Ninth Court
Who: Hosted by Bay County Branch NAACP
Details: This event is free. Call 763-5381 for more information.
Sunday
What: Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. commemorative worship service
When: 6 p.m.
Where: Greater Friendship Missionary Baptist Church, 909 E. Eight St.
Who: Hosted by Bay County Interdenominational Ministerial Alliance
Details: Bishop Russell Wright Sr. at 624-0244
Monday
What: Martin Luther King Jr. festival
When: 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Where: McKenzie Park in downtown Panama City
Who: Hosted by Advisory Committee for Urban Revitalization Equity (ACURE)
Details:Sharon Sheffield, 819-2967, or Myron Hines, 276-1097