BATTLE CREEK, Mich. –
Federal employees gathered at the Hart-Dole-Inouye Federal Center in Battle Creek, Michigan, to commemorate Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and remember the civil rights icon’s call to service Jan. 24.
Defense Logistics Agency Equal Employment Opportunity Office Director Arnita Furgason welcomed guests and introduced this year’s theme for the event, “Remember, Celebrate, and Act. A day on, not a day off!”
“The theme is a call to action through personal service,” she said. “Together we keep Dr. King’s legacy alive by getting involved and working together to strengthen the value of the communities we serve.”
The event called for attendees to remember Dr. King’s peaceful demonstrations to create change, celebrate his legacy, and act with personal service by volunteering to help strengthen the community.
Special keynote speaker, Reverend Robert “Bobby” Holley, a former DLA employee, U.S. Army veteran, and active community member, reminisced about his time spent working at HDIFC. He shared positive memories of building amenities and workplace culture.
Holley shared his personal experiences of witnessing segregation and racism while serving in the U.S. Army. In one example, he explained how the base movie theater separated viewers by section.
“I was in the Army, serving my country, and I had to experience that kind of segregation,” said Holley.
In 1967, he graduated Advanced Individual Training and traveled to Georgia and met Dr. King.
“After my meeting, I went back to the base. Not knowing that a year later, he would be assassinated,” he said.
After Dr. King’s death, he became friends with his family which inspired his involvement in his hometown of Battle Creek.
As an active community member, Holley has increased homelessness and gun violence awareness through various eye-catching methods to include crawling from Battle Creek to Chicago, Illinois, and sleeping in a cardboard box in front of HDIFC.
“I was out of work by 3:30 p.m. and by 4 o’clock I was in the cardboard box for the rest of the night,” he recalled.
He encouraged everyone to be cognizant of those in need and find a way to aid others like providing warm clothing or food to those less fortunate.
“Everybody here can play a part in this community in some way,” Holley said. “We all need to come together in different ways to help each other.”