Following King's philosophy

by Julie Fanselow

January 19, 2006 | | St. Mary's County, Maryland

Martin Luther King Jr. Day helped launch planning for a round of study circles on racism in St. Mary’s County, Md., a historic community on Chesapeake Bay.

About 40 people attended a study circles orientation following the second annual Southern Maryland Martin Luther King Jr. Prayer Breakfast at St. Mary’s College of Maryland. The college co-sponsored the event with the St. Mary’s County Human Relations Commission.

“Dr. King’s philosophy was that we should do things in a non-violent way, but we should move forward,” says SCRC Senior Associate Gwendolyn P. Whiting, who led the orientation. “Let’s not skirt the issues. Let’s get the issues on the table and look at a process that will help us address them and involve all people.”

In St. Mary’s County, top local concerns include improving police-community relations and addressing the lack of adequate representation for African-Americans among schoolteachers and police officers above the entry-level ranks.

Last year following King Day, St. Mary’s County held a one-session program that gave 70 local residents “a taste” of what study circles are all about, says Marc Apter, an organizer from St. Mary’s College. This year, coverage of the prayer breakfast and orientation made page 1 of the local newspaper, “so we’re already getting phone calls” from would-be participants, Apter says.

Organizers plan to involve about 100 people in the circles and draw from a broad cross-section of the community, including people of all races and disenfranchised youth.

Learn more: Racial Equity