The annual Martin Luther King Jr. birthday celebration breakfast at the Mt. Olive Star Baptist Church was held inside while the outside temperature was barely out of the teens.

But the celebration warmed the hearts of all who attended, which included several members of the Muscogee (Creek) Nation and all races.

Janaya McIntosh, Miss MCN (2024-2025), spoke to the gathering about similar racist battles fought by both groups – the Indians being forced from their homes to Walk the Trail of Tears and Black Americans having to take the Underground Railroad to flee their homes.

“A friendship was created,” she said. “We shared the same fate. People from different nations, from different backgrounds came together.

“We are unified in Christ,” she said.

The annual breakfast was organized by Alma Harper and the Warrior School Restoration Organization. Warrior is president of the organization, secretary of the McIntosh County NAACP and a member of the Muscogee (Creek) Nation.

The morning included prayers, songs, a sermon by Rev. Jerry Alexander and breakfast.

Rev. Alexander used King’s “I Have a Dream Speech” to emphasize its relevance today to the world at large.

King was killed on April 4, 1968, the day after speaking to striking sanitation workers in Memphis Tennessee.

Born on Jan. 15, 1929, his birthday celebration was designated to be held nationally on the third Monday of each January.

“Martin Luther King Jr., lived at a time when there was so much hatred and chaos between the races,” Alexander said. “There was little to reveal that one day there would be equality for all and that blacks and whites would get along.”

Alexander used the biblical story of Joseph to compare his trials and tribulations to those of King.

Joseph was the first born, affording him certain privileges which turned his younger brothers against him and sold him into slavery.

“Martin Luther King Jr. was hated all the more because of his dream for equality for all,” Alexander said.

He noted that dreamers often go through much suffering to fulfill their dreams.

“Dreams will face many trials,” he said. “Martin Luther King Jr. faced pain and suffering. He was hated, stabbed, arrested and put in jail, water hosed, tear gassed, and treated as less than a human,” Alexander said. “He went through much pain and suffering to see his dream come true.

“Fulfillment of the dream is worth the price that must be paid to see the dream become reality.”

He urged people to follow their dreams, but for the dreams to become a reality you must take action.

Whatever you dream of being or doing you won’t accomplish it by sitting on the sidelines and doing nothing.

“You can’t just think about it. You’ve got to get into the game today for the dream to become a reality,” he said. “Where would Martin Luther King Jr. have been if he just sat around and watched football all day? All he would have been doing is dreaming,” Alexander said.

“If God gives you that dream, it will be fulfilled.”