For 20 years now, the Chantilly Pyramid Minority Student Achievement (CPMSAC) Committee has celebrated the life and legacy of Martin Luther King Jr. This year’s event is set for Sunday, Jan. 12, at 4 p.m., at Westfield High.
This year’s theme is “In Celebration of Dr. Martin Luther King: 50 Years Later – A Time for Reflection and Remembrance.” Students from schools throughout Centreville and Chantilly will perform in his honor. The event is free and the public is welcome.
“I hope that, through this annual celebration of the life of Dr. King, we are inspiring our youth – our future – to make their individual marks on life,” said event Co-Chair Deneen Vaughn. “I hope they’ll make a difference that has a positive impact, not just for them as individuals, but for their generation and for the generations that follow. I hope they can find the courage to confront societal challenges and injustices with knowledge, grace and in a peaceful manner, but with purpose, as Dr. King did.”
Masters of Ceremonies for Sunday’s program are Westfield juniors Joseph Grant and Evan Gray. Featured guest artist is singer Edward Brient, a Chantilly High grad who was part of the school’s famed Touch of Class Show Choir.
Also performing will be the Centreville High Wildcat Guitar Ensemble, under the direction of Bill Burke, and the Westfield Step Team directed by Scott Burroughs. Singing the iconic “We Shall Overcome” together will be choral students from Greenbriar East Elementary and Rocky Run Middle.
Colin Powell Elementary’s Puma Choir will perform the song, “It Starts with Me,” and Greenbriar East will entertain the audience with the musical number, “O Come, O Come, Emmanuel.”
The Bull Run Elementary String Ensemble will perform, “Noel,” followed by “Break Every Chain” by a group called Praise in Movement. And a Chantilly High choral group named “Unaccompanied Minors” will sing the popular song, “Some Nights.”
The song, “I Dream a World,” will be performed by the Franklin Middle Advanced Women’s Choir, and Lees Corner Elementary student Ricky McGlothin will give a dramatic reading titled, “Your Dream.” In addition, the Chantilly High Chamber Chorale will sing, “Walk Together, Children,” and Brookfield Elementary’s fifth- and sixth-grade chorus will perform “There Has to Be a Song.”
“Every year, we’re given an opportunity to reflect on how Dr. King’s life impacted our country,” said event Co-Chair Brenda Johnson. “He taught us not to give up and to work hard and, one day, your dreams would become a reality. He taught us that we all have the right to the ‘pursuit of happiness.’
“Over the years, I’ve witnessed many changes, but we have so much more to do. Dr. King gave many people hope, determination, self-confidence and courage, but we don’t want to become comfortable and stop looking for other ways to continue his legacy. We have to insure that our children never forget the sacrifices he and many others had to endure so they can walk the streets freely, shop and sit in a restaurant without being harassed or told, ‘We can’t serve you here,’ and, most importantly, exercise their right to be heard by casting their vote.”
Johnson said things today still aren’t “what they should be – we still face challenges in all aspects of our lives – but they are much better than they were. Thank you, Dr. King, for being a model for a life well lived and for giving us a reason to hope, believe and dream that anything is possible.”
