Buffalo, NY (WBEN) In a year where we saw the rise of Black Lives Matter in the fight for racial justice, this year's Martin Luther King, Jr. Day is expected to take on more significant meaning for today's younger generation, say area leaders.
Buffalo Common Council President Rev. Darius Pridgen says this year the holiday takes on a different shape. "Especially for the younger generation who in the past, where the MLK Day didn't mean as much because they hadn't fully participated in the movement," explains Pridgen. He says this comes after a summer of which, he had never seen before in his adult lifetime, where there was "the almost global uprising and support of Black Lives Matter, police reform and racial injustice."
As for the holiday being billed as "a day on, not a day off," Pridgen says this has to be a lifestyle change. "A lifestyle of service and rising up and changing institutions, situations and governments when there's injustice, so I don't think there's going to be a big change among African-American youth when it comes to service," notes Pridgen.
Pridgen says today's generation will learn an important lesson from King. "It is about the fight for justice, knowing you may lose something. You may lose your freedom, you may lose some battles, but the goal is to win the war," explains Pridgen. "It becomes more of an encouragement of the younger generation and a sigh of relief for the older generation who's been waiting for this generation to rise up, have their voices heard and be positive changes for people."
Pridgen says he's pleased with what the younger generation's already done. "Seeing people who say this law is wrong, so we need a new law or a new procedure. If you've seen in the last week, businesses that anyone felt was attached to the Capitol riots they were stepping away from them," says Pridgen. "It is encouraging, whether it's about the riot or that you didn't see as many African-Americans involved in it. The reason they say they don't want to associate themselves with those involved in the riot, and they don't want to be involved with racism, and that I think is huge."
"I wouldn't use the word different," says Vicki Ross of the WNY Peace Center about this year's MLK Day. "Not as much as even more urgent and vital to our survival."
Ross says there are people who are violent, and you can tell where they're coming from. "There's a lot of blowback from people whose racism is so pronounced and delusional beliefs are so ingrained and the refusal to look at plain truth and call it what it is is so pronounced they can't even see what they're doing and how destructive this is," says Ross.
Ross says the message she takes from King is unarmed truth and unconditional love. "Also known as moral integrity and universal solidarity. We need to be thinking about those messages and having the courage to do the right thing. It's always the right time to do the right thing," says Ross.
Rev. Mark Blue of the Buffalo NAACP Chapter is part of the Vaccine Equity Task Force for the state and community. He says when it comes to getting COVID19 to minority communities, education is first. "We are launching an aggressive campaign on the vaccine, how it affects us, and how important it is to get the vaccine," says Blue.
Blue says there's a possibility churches and community centers in Black and Latino communities to be used as vaccination sites. "When I say sites, they won't be used to store the vaccine, but they'll be used as a hub to where they can gather the vaccine and distribute them during specific times and hours," explains Blue.
Blue shares the same frustration with others about vaccine supply. "We can't meet the demand of the individuals in need of vaccine, but we believe when the BIden administration takes over, he has pledged to open the window to where the vaccines can be more readily available," says Blue.
