Delegates of the Arkansas Martin Luther King Junior Commission are on their way back to Arkansas after extensive training from the Florida MLK Institute on nonviolence economics. The training involved learning how to make the state’s economy fairer for all Arkansans and giving a voice to those who feel like they don’t have a voice. You will hear from delegate volunteers. First is Reverend Charles Killion from McGehee, who says the time for change is now.“We must make a change. It is not a matter of when. We must make a change and this summit of economics is a change because we have not had conversations in the past about how we go forward from where we are, to where we need to be.”
Next is Lanette Frazier from Pine Bluff.
“I believe it will help with my community because I will take what I have learned and start having conversations with the Leadership Institute in Pine Bluff, and the mayor’s office to share what I have learned. I plan on sharing this information and hopefully getting people from the Florida MLK Institute to come to Little Rock to share this training.”
Next is Pat Ward, from Little Rock.
“This training is amazing,” says Ward. “This is a great wealth of information that comes at a critical time. It is timely and it is information our community needs to have in order to have people make decisions for a better quality of life.”
Finally, is Marty Guajardo from Jefferson County.
“I do a lot of work outside of the community. I will take this information and how to apply it and share it throughout the community. It is the lack of information that individuals do not grow and understand. It is my goal to take this information and translate it into Spanish so I can communicate it with the Hispanic community I work with as well.”
You have heard from some of the numerous volunteers with the Arkansas Martin Luther King, Junior Commission as they have completed the nonviolence economic training through the Florida MLK Institute. For KASU News, I’m Johnathan Reaves Reporting.
