Posted on January 26, 2017.
By Thomas Sellers Jr.
The rescheduling of the Millington vs. Munford basketball doubleheader from Jan. 9 to Jan. 16 gave Munford High School Principal Dr. Courtney Fee and administration a chance to do something special. The faculty and students were on board quickly to organize the Munford High School Remembers the Legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. The night of Jan. 16 was the national holiday honoring the Civil Rights leader who was slain in Memphis on April 4, 1968. Fee and the students took moments between both games to celebrate the legacy of King fighting to bring all Americans together in peace and harmony. And harmony was the first way King was remembered when MHS student Amari Hayes (Class of 2019) sung the National Anthem. Later Hayes took back to the court to perform a semi-acappella version of Sam Cooke’s A Change is Gonna Come. Once the girls’ game concluded, six MHS students walked out in front of the scorer’s table with black folders. Robyn Medeiros (Class of 2018) held a copy of a speech from King’s widow, the late Coretta Scott King. Jalan Wakefield (Class of 2017), Jeremy Sykes (Class of 2017) and Chaz Hayes (Class of 2018) all read portions of Dr. King’s Mountain Top Speech given in Memphis prior to his assassination. Then Timothy Hobson read from his black folder the reaction of Robert Kennedy that April night after King’s death. Hobson echoed the first public words to remember the legacy of King. Ayonna Lemons (Class of 2019) closed out Diversity and Achievement segment with final remarks from Coretta. The main event of the night came courtesy of Millington Central High School Class of 2011 alumni Andrew Watson. He song a gospel song reflecting on the power of Christ.
Fee said it was fitting both communities came together on this night and where there to celebrate and honor Dr. King.
