Editor:
Next week will be the anniversary of Martin Luther King’s assassination. We are concerned that Martin Luther King is known mostly these days for community service. This past January, St. Anthony’s in Camden was the only place in the country to mark Martin Luther King Day by doing a day of community organizing rather than community service. We have nothing against community service, but we believe Martin Luther King’s life was much more about organizing than service.
As a result of the Martin Luther King Day of Community Organizing, our student community organizing group has met monthly with county officials, city officials, and people from the neighborhood to make Von Nieda Park here in Camden a safer and cleaner environment for all to enjoy.
As we remember Dr. King, we hope people around the country will remember him for bringing people together and using their power to make positive changes, which is what community organizing is all about.
We hope more people will consider doing community organizing next Martin Luther King Day. We have spoken with someone at the White House Office for Urban Affairs, and invited them to join us in January 2013. We hope they will bring along someone else from the White House who got his start in community organizing.
Nicole Valladares, eighth grade; Joseph Payero, eighth grade; Soledad Velazquez, seventh grade; Father William “Jud” Weiksnar, ofm, moderator
Camden
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