District 32 NC House representative and local businessman Terry Garrison was on Monday’s edition of WIZS’ Town Talk program to discuss the day’s remembrance of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
Observed the third Monday of January each year since 1986, the federal holiday honors King near his actual birthday of January 15. Many churches and community organizations in the local area held celebrations and events in remembrance both today and over the weekend.
Garrison, who attended both the Granville County Human Relations Annual Fellowship at Oxford Baptist Church and an MLK remembrance celebration at Spring St. Missionary Baptist Church in Henderson early Monday morning said the messages were very similar – keeping the dream alive.
“The message focused on the efforts we need to put forward to help fulfill the dream,” said Garrison.
Garrison said he personally became aware of King around 1955 during the events of the Montgomery Bus Boycott in Alabama. “King was an icon, a prophet, a Moses of the 20th century,” explained Garrison. “He is, what I consider, to be the father of the civil rights movement.”
In addition to being perhaps the most famous figure in the movement, Garrison reminded listeners that King was also a minister who preached a message of “justice, equality, peace and love.”
“King was a minister of the gospel and preached about loving God and loving your fellow man. There’s only one supreme being. There’s no man who is a supreme being, only God. Mankind was made from one clay; we all have the same blood. Once we embrace and begin to love and respect each other, we can get a lot of things done and put favoritism aside,” stated Garrison.
To do his part to help fulfill King’s dream, Garrison said he serves in leadership roles with several organizations that assist the African-American community, including the Henderson-Vance Black Leadership Caucus, where he serves as president.
“The Black Leadership Caucus focuses on helping blacks and persons of color get elected to office who are focused on helping improve the quality of life for all citizens, particularly the African-American community,” said Garrison “I take a lot of pride in working with that organization.”
Garrison also works with the NAACP and other community organizations to “to help people register to vote, feed the hungry and help those with housing issues.”
For more information on these organizations, Garrison invites you to contact him by phone at (252) 432-3577 or (252) 438-6363.
To hear the interview with Terry Garrison in its entirety, please click here. Garrison’s portion of the Town Talk segment begins at the 11:05 mark.