A variety of people and speakers at the Waukegan Township Martin Luther King Jr. Day event Monday described a variety of ways character breeds influence as it befits the legacy of the late civil rights leader and Nobel Prize winner.
Waukegan Township Supervisor Marc Jones said Booker T. Washington originally said, “Character is power.”
A short phrase, Jones said it is, “a remarkably simple, yet profound, statement about the importance of integrity and personal values” about leaders like King, Harriet Tubman, U.S. Rep. John Lewis, D-Georgia, and the U.S. Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall.
“They were able to translate their characteristics into the power to literally change the world,” Jones said.
Elected officials, members of the clergy and other local leaders among a crowd of more than 500 people gave their take on character as part of King’s legacy at the annual Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Dreamers Breakfast Monday in Gurnee.
Bishop Horace E. Smith of the Apostolic Faith Church in Chicago and the keynote speaker, said the issues King embraced more than 50 years ago remain relevant today. What he championed went beyond one group. They were universal, reflecting his character and the power it radiated.
“If you want to honor Dr. King, you have to honor all people because he was talking about all people,” Smith said. “King’s quotes are as relevant today in 2025 as they were when he was assassinated in 1968.”
Johnson said King talked about the importance of character as a legacy during his “I Have a Dream” speech when King referenced his own children,
“I don’t want them to be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character,” Smith said, quoting King.
Along with praising King’s legacy at an event called a dreamers breakfast, a different type of “Dreamer” was on the minds of some of the people there. Those “Dreamers” are individuals who came to the United States as young children, are undocumented and now fear deportation.
Celebrating King’s legacy on the same day President Donald Trump was inaugurated and signed executive orders to begin deporting people who may be in the U.S. courtesy of the Consideration of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals Act (DACA), some like Smith saw the irony.
“If you know something is right, then you can find a way to make it legal,” Smith said after his speech.
Waukegan Community Unit School District 60 Board of Education Brandon Ewing brought his three sons to the breakfast. When asked about the incongruity of DACA “Dreamers” potentially facing deportation on a day honoring King, he quoted the civil rights icon.
“Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere,” Ewing said, quoting King.
State Sen. Adriane Johnson, D-Buffalo Grove, said during her presentation King’s family was important to him even though he spent so much time away trying to help others. His character influenced others, she said.
“He mobilized the nation for good and that’s power,” Johnson said.
Before she spoke, she also commented on the fear DACA “Dreamers” now have of facing possible deportation.
“True freedom means freedom for all,” Johnson said.
Attending Trump’s inauguration, U.S. Rep. Brad Schneider, D-Highland Park, gave his remarks virtually. He said in his video character defines everyone by their values, choices and how people treat each other. He encouraged people to put it to use.
“How can we build bridges in our communities?” Schneider said. “How can we stand as examples of integrity in our workplaces, and how can we show our young people character is not just a virtue but responsibility?”
Schneider too had “Dreamers” on his mind. He said in a text immigrants have made the country richer and stronger through history. The “Dreamers” here through DACA are now teachers, first responders, scientists, entrepreneurs, doctors and social workers.
“We see you, we appreciate you and we will protect you,” he said in the text. “Brought to this nation as children, today’s Dreamers deserve a pathway to become citizens of the only country they know and love.”
Just as King asked to be remembered as a “drum major for justice,” community members are annually recognized as Drum Majors for Justice at the event. There were 16 this year, including Betzy Berganza.
Videos of each drum major were played before they stepped to the stage to receive their award. Berganza, the director of health and human services for the YWCA, stood in front of the screen before ascending the stage.
“I want to be able to help people, and help them accomplish something in their lives,” she said. “I want to be able to do something for people every day.”
Other Drum Majors for Justice were: Carlos Argueta, Wygenia Brisco, Gwen Broughton and daughter Sherrie Scott as a team, Carl Evans, Michael Gonzalez, E. Geraldine Johnson Gray, Aniita Hanna, Andre Harris, Lorraine Harris, Cheri Neal, Edith Newsome, Armando Pena, Gina Roberts, Lori Suddick, Warren Thomas and Mac Arthur White.
