Scholarship banquet honors King’s memory

The theme of this year’s Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Committee of Las Vegas’ MLK Scholarship Banquet held at The Orleans Jan. 17 was “Living The Dream: Where Do We Go From Here?”

The banquet, which had Tonya Fortson and Deloise Reese as co-chairwomen, precedes the annual Martin Luther King Jr. Parade.

“It’s our belief that the answer to this question lies in each of us,” said Wendell P. Williams, founder of the annual parade and banquet. “It’s important that we set the bar for others to follow; that we design a road map to show the way for our future and the future generations to come that depend on us.”

Thirty-three years ago, while working at the Doolittle Community Center, Williams and Bobby McRoy decided to do something special to commemorate Martin Luther King’s birthday. They started a parade with a few floats.

“It looked more like a funeral procession than a parade,” Williams jokingly told the banquet crowd.

This year, the parade had more than 100 floats, making it the largest parade in the state. Parade marshals were former Wendell P. Williams Elementary School principal Brenda J. McKinney and former U.S. Rep. Steven Horsford, D-Nev., and his wife, Sonya.

Clark County Commissioner Lawrence Weekly served as master of ceremonies. Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., a Rhodes Scholar and Yale Law School graduate, credited his parents for teaching him about the civil rights movement.

“It’s important we recognize Martin Luther King Jr. Day, because it didn’t come about by accident,” Booker said. “It had to be fought for.”

Horsford praised his friend Booker for reaching across party lines to work on issues such as reforming the criminal justice system.

Young people were involved in every aspect of the evening, including the honor guard from Palo Verde High School to the fantastic P. A. Owens Christian Academy Chorale.

Las Vegas native filmmaker Cameron Miller also spoke. Miller, who owns Studio 11 Films in Atlanta, opened a Film Training school in Las Vegas. He certified the first nine production assistants who produced a film that will premiere at the West Las Vegas Library on Feb. 24. The graduates are in a national employment database for producers.

A surprise guest was comedian Ricky Smiley, who is performing at The Orleans. Smiley, who was dressed in casual attire, said he would have been “casket sharp” if he’d known Booker was going to speak. That drew lots of laughs.

William McCurdy Jr., another young man mentored by the organization, received the President’s Award. He is the first African-American student body president of the College of Southern Nevada. McCurdy said the MLK Jr. Committee paved the way for him to succeed.

Others attendees were Tony Gladney, Vice President of National Diversity Relations at MGM Resorts International; Phyllis James of MGM Resorts International; Guy Amato of the College of Southern Nevada; Assemblyman Tyrone Thompson, D-North Las Vegas; Harvey Mumford; Juanita Williams; and Las Vegas Links President Kathleen Turner Knight.

Attendees also included the Rev. Bill McDonnell of Ebenezer Church of God in Christ; 100 Black Men of Las Vegas President Joe Jones; former Clark County School Board President Linda E. Young; Hannah Brown; and Verlia Hoggard.

Major sponsors included MGM Resorts International, Caesars Entertainment Corp. and Cox Communications.