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Keeping the dream alive: NAACP holds annual MLK Day event

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Jon Andreassi/Observer-Reporter

The Mt. Olive Baptist Praise Team provided music for Sunday’s event.

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Photos: Jon Andreassi/Observer-Reporter

Canonsburg council president Eric Chandler, Mayor David Rhome, Washington Mayor Scott Putnam and Commissioner Diana Irey Vaughan gave welcoming remarks Sunday.

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Jon Andreassi/Observer-Reporter

Retired KDKA reporter Harold Hayes was the keynote speaker at Mt. Olive Baptist Church.

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Jon Andreassi/Observer-Reporter

Washington County Judge Traci McDonald-Kemp swore in the new officers and executive committee of the local branch of the NAACP.

Don’t dwell on it, build on it.

That was the message of Harold Hayes’ address to those gathered at Mt. Olive Baptist Church Sunday in Canonsburg to recognize Martin Luther King Jr. Day.

Hayes, a retired KDKA reporter, was invited by the Washington branch of the NAACP to be the keynote speaker at their annual event. Hayes began his career in 1979 and retired in 2016.

The theme of Sunday’s event was “Keep the dream alive, there’s more work to do.” Hayes built on that theme with the mantra “don’t dwell on it, build on it,” urging people to learn from past mistakes to build a better, more equal, future.

He often drew from his career as a reporter, recalling once in 1997 when he covered a news conference held by the director of the regional Ku Klux Klan, announcing his intent to march in downtown Pittsburgh.

“The assignment editor, who was white, and I appreciated his point of view, he said, ‘We shouldn’t give this guy the time of day,'” Hayes said. “But I opened my big mouth, and said, ‘I think the story is something has made the Klan feel comfortable enough to do something they hadn’t done since the 1920s. They would always have rallies in rural areas, but they weren’t big and bad enough to march in a city.”

Hayes added that he stayed quiet through the hateful rhetoric he heard at the news conference, and that he felt responding with anger and harsh language in the moment would have made the event newsworthy for the wrong reasons.

“The story would have gone viral, but the issue of what made the Klan feel comfortable enough to march in city would have gotten lost. The story would have generated plenty of heat, but very little light,” Hayes said.

Also speaking at the event was Chartiers-Houston High School senior Spencer Thomas, who drew a sustained round of applause and praise from Hayes after reading his essay about Martin Luther King Jr.’s “What is Man” sermon.

“Thank you for having me. I think you did make one error though. The keynote speaker should have been Spencer Thomas,” Hayes said at the beginning of his speech. “He’s going somewhere, you can tell.”

There were also several local officials in attendance. Canonsburg Mayor David Rhome, council President Eric Chandler, Washington Mayor Scott Putnam and Washington County Commissioner Diana Irey Vaughn all gave welcoming remarks.

At the end of the program, Washington County Judge Traci McDonald-Kemp swore in the NAACP’s new officers and executive committee, including the chapter’s new president, David Gatling. Gatling addressed the crowd before the benediction.

“I’m humbled, honored and privileged to be elected as the president of the NAACP branch. We will do our best to meet the challenges facing our organization,” Gatling said.

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