JBER to hold Martin Luther King Jr. observance Jan. 28

  • Published
  • By Airman 1st Class Kyle Johnson
  • JBER Public Affairs
JOINT BASE ELMENDORF-RICHARDSON, Alaska --  The Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, Alaska observance of Martin Luther King Jr. day is scheduled for 1 p.m., Jan. 28 at the Frontier Theater.

The guest speaker for the event is Sgt. 1st Class Kevin Mitchell, operations noncommissioned officer for the 6th Brigade Engineer Battalion. The 1st Squadron (Airborne) 40th Cavalry, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division is hosting the observance.

"Sgt. 1st Class Mitchell is actually a member of the 4/25, he's from the 6th [Brigade Engineer Battalion], he's a pastor, he's also working at one of the schools with the ROTC program," said Army Master Sgt. Erik Knight, USARAK Equal Opportunity Program manager. "He's very involved in the community kind of along the same lines as Dr. King, who was also a pastor and involved in the community; he symbolizes what the observance is all about."

All around Anchorage, companies and nonprofits are extending their services to the community in honor of this very thought process. Legal advice is being offered, food is being distributed, and people are speaking out to encourage others to do the same.

"Later on in his time, he was working to get rid of poverty too," Knight said. "That's what the federal holiday has turned into; community service, giving back. Those that are able to help out, help out where you can and try to make things better for everybody. That's what this observance focuses on."

Observances similar to this one are held year-round on both sides of JBER, each with their own message, but all with a common mission.

"We're trying to educate people about where we came from," Knight said. "Part of that is understanding the struggles that different groups of people have gone through.

This holiday is not about a race, it's not about a people; it's about the people," Knight said. "It's about one man and his contributions to an entire society. He was trying to eliminate discrimination for all people."

For more information on JBER observances, contact the Equal Opportunity office at 552-2115 or U.S. Army Alaska EO office at 353-9264.