Gov. Rod Blagojevich said Monday that a new state commission will document the gap between the “haves and the have-nots” in Illinois “so we can measure what we need to do better.”
Blagojevich’s announcement came at the annual PUSH-Excel scholarship breakfast at the Chicago Hilton and Towers honoring Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., one of a number events across the Chicago area commemorating the late civil rights leader on the national holiday marking his birth.
“It isn’t enough that we just come together every single year and honor him,” Blagojevich said. “We now have to pick up the gauntlet and pursue those ideals and principles and turn those into reality.”
Children at the South Side YMCA, 6330 S. Stony Island Ave., honored King by performing a skit highlighting his message. One by one, elementary school-age children stood and told facts about King.
“Martin Luther King Jr. fought for civil rights,” one said.
“Dr. King preached about respect and justice,” declared another.
“Martin Luther King was a great man. He helped black people and white people stop fighting,” asserted a third.
Jeff Thomas, program director of the YMCA’s after-school program, said he chose Monday’s activity, because he wanted the children to understand the importance of the movement King led.
“Unfortunately, today a lot of kids don’t know the gist of what Martin Luther King was about,” he said. “When I think about Martin Luther King for myself, I don’t like to limit him to just a dream.”
