DANVERS - Martin Luther King Jr. spoke nearly 40 years ago about a dream he had: That one day all races would be treated equally.
Today on the North Shore, many people are living out King's dream and following his path to build a society in which there is true equality, and not just lip service to the ideal.
At the Annual Martin Luther King Jr. Awards Dinner last night, eight people were honored with the Drum Major for Justice Award. These people promote tolerance and diversity within their communities.
The recipients were state Sen. Fred Berry, D-Peabody; Salem State College President Nancy Harrington; the Rev. and Mrs. Edward Lynn of the North Shore Unitarian Universalist Church; Susan Madison, Town of Danvers assistant director of human and planning services; Danvers High School social studies teacher Jim Farley; retired DHS history teacher Ted Butler; and DHS senior Kaitlin Sullivan.
More than 200 people, including Selectmen Martha Swindell, Ellen Graham, and Emery Todd, Superintendent Richard Santeusanio and high school students, showed up to honor the recipients and King, whose 73rd birthday would have been Jan. 15, but whose holiday was yesterday.
Town Manager Wayne Marquis greeted the crowd, giving a special thank-you to the members of the Danvers Committee for Diversity for organizing the event.
Berry gave the opening remarks, reminding everyone why equality is so important.
"We are all brothers and sisters and we are all in it together," he said. "If we are not all in it together, if we are not brothers and sisters, then we are never going to get to Martin Luther King's dream. We need to share the wealth."
This is the second year the Committee for Diversity has sponsored the dinner. Last year, the 11 founding members of the committee were honored along with the Rev. Charles Gross, minister at Maple Street Congregational Church, and Danvers Herald Community Editor Myrna Fearer.
Besides being the an honoree, Harrington was also the guest speaker. She spoke about the increase in minority students at the college over the past 10 years and Salem State's efforts to promote diversity.
Harrington also noted that despite the work of King and others, hatred of minority groups still thrives in America.
"Hate crimes and hate organizations are alive and well in the world, in our country, in Massachusetts and in Danvers and Salem," she said. "It (hate) flourishes by playing on people's fears and insecurities. It is time good takes action."
Harrington mentioned an article that reported there are 10 hate groups in Massachusetts and 57 percent of hate crimes committed in the state are by people between the ages of 11 and 18.
Harrington concluded her speech with ways people can change these numbers.
"We need to speak out on that which is not right. We need to educate ourselves, our children and our children's children. We need to emulate the works of the man we honor today. He believed one voice, one like, can make a difference. We need to stretch to our fullest potential."
To conclude the night, everyone stood together and sang "We Shall Overcome," which became well-known during the 1960s when it was sung so often by civil rights activists.