Mayor Shaver addresses King Holiday audience

Historic City News reporters were on the scene as St Augustine held its 30th annual celebration of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day on Monday, January 19, 2015. More than 100 people marched down King Street on their way to the Plaza de la Constitucion as part of the ceremonies.

St Augustine’s mayor, Nancy Shaver, held hands during the march with Reverend Ron Rawls of St. Paul AME Church. The march began about 11:30 a.m. and reached the gazebo about 12:00 noon.

As Shaver overlooked the crowd, she joined the other speakers and offered the following words to those attending:

Good morning, I am honored to be here.

This is a very profound and personal day of remembrance for me and for all of us—and we all have our stories, and I would like to share mine with you.

I was 15 when the Civil Rights act was passed and burned into my young brain was the photograph of the swimmers in the Monson Motor Lodge pool that appeared on the front page of the paper. Five years ago when I moved to Lincolnville, I finally made the connection, and walked the Accord Freedom Trail with tears in my eyes. We all have our truth about the history we live through—none more correct than another’s.

I am, by belief, a Quaker — and many Quakers were a part of the Civil Rights movement, sharing a creed of non-violence and bearing witness.

But, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., did Ghandi one better. He added the requirement of loving one’s enemy to “standing up for the right thing” — and that was his dream; love among all peoples.

I have a dream for St Augustine as well, albeit more modest.

A couple of years ago, I was downtown speaking with a group of young African-Americans who had come from Jacksonville to enjoy and evening out, and I asked them if they knew about the part St. Augustine played in the passage of the Civil Rights Act, and they did not.

My dream is that no one visits Saint Augustine, from our 450th year forward, without coming to know the many truths we hold of that time. And I ask all of you who have stories to tell to come together, respecting each other’s truths, and help us make this small but vital dream a reality so our collective story is not lost.

It is only through knowing our past and telling it, that we can write our future; the future Dr. King told us was possible, love among all peoples.