Hammond-area faith leaders and elected officials noted the work still left to be done to achieve Martin Luther King's dream.
"Who would've thought that in 2023, brothers and sisters, we'd still be talking about an attempted overthrow of the United States government that happened two years ago?" Pastor Regan Robinson of St. John Baptist Church in Gary asked during Hammond's annual Martin Luther King Day celebration Monday. "How did we get here? Nobody is supposed to be here. Who would've thought that in 2023, we'd have to remind white and Black folk that Black lives do matter?"
U.S. Rep. Frank Mrvan used Monday's event to call for unity during a time of division. "We understand that diversity is absolutely our strength, but what our power is, is unity," Mrvan said.
Mayor Tom McDermott Jr. listed a number of Dr. King's accomplishments and called him one of the greatest Americans of all time. "This man was 39 years old when he was assassinated. All the accomplishments that I'm talking about were done in 39 years," McDermott noted.
But there have also been local community members who've helped carry on that legacy.
Hammond City Council member Barry Tyler Jr. thanked those who paved the way for him and called on current residents to help today's youth realize their potential. "I am here because so many people in this room poured life into me as a young man growing up in the 3rd District, growing up on Merrill Street, going to Maywood, going to Eggers, going to Hammond High, who saw something in me that, at that time, I didn't see in myself," Tyler said.
Mrvan said he and his predecessor have helped by bringing federal resources into Northwest Indiana. "When [former] Congressman [Pete] Visclosky brings to us the Double Tracking, and state and local and federal officials and agencies come together to have a billion-dollar investment in Hammond, in Gary and East Chicago, so that we can create economic development and wealth and jobs here in our area, that's vitally important to understand that history," Mrvan said.
He said officials need to continue working together to improve public safety, affordable housing access and future jobs.
Those in attendance were also reminded of their own power to bring about change.
"You want to change things? You want to see things change? You change it," said Rev. Homer Cobb, president of the Hammond branch of the NAACP. "You! You! It's your turn now. You do it!"
Monday's event was hosted by the city of Hammond and the Ministerial Alliance of Hammond and Vicinity.