Rev. Jerry Langley Speaks at Beaufort CCC’s Sixth Annual MLK Celebration

Beaufort County Community College continued to bring together visionaries for justice at its Sixth Annual Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Community Celebration on January 15. The event brought together elected officials and community members from churches, organizations, and educational institutions. The vice chair of the Beaufort County Commission Rev. Jerry Langley addressed the audience and Kingdom of Life Community Church Praise Team performed at the event.

Rev. Jerry Langley has served on the Beaufort County Commission for 24 years and serves as the pastor for Zion Grove Church of Christ, Disciples of Christ in Columbia, N.C. He holds a Master of Arts in Religious Studies from Grand Canyon University. Langley also serves on the board of directors for the Beaufort Hyde Martin Regional Library.

Langley’s message was around rewarding work, an issue that was a top priority for King, and continuing to move forward on the values King espoused.

“Dr. King's vision was one of hope, not just for Black people, but it was intended for the entire human race,” Langley said. “Yet the vision came from a position where the Black man and the people of color were at a disadvantage in this world. In a world where their blood, sweat and tears built, but they were not able to reap the benefits of all their hard labor.”

He recited a quote from King that emphasized this, “He said philosophy is commendable, but it must not cause the philanthropist to overlook the circumstances of economic injustice which makes philanthropy necessary.”

He prompted the audience to keep moving forward on the values equity and justice. “When we have a vision, we may or may not see the completion of our visions, but it's the hope and desire of the visionary, that there will be those who will take up the mantle and continue with that vision. So, I want to ask a question of all of you this morning and that is are you today living the dream or living a nightmare?”

Langley said, “The dreams of Dr. King are a long way from being realized because so many of us sit on the seat of do nothing with an attitude of ‘I don't care what happens, as long as it does not happen to me.’ When will we truly become our brother's keeper?”

BCCC is committed to equity and inclusion, which is a foundational element of our institutional mission. As an open-enrollment, public, community college, Beaufort works each day to provide educational opportunities designed to enhance economic and social mobility for the residents of our diverse service region. Its faculty and staff continue to teach content and engage students in a manner that emphasizes the basic rights and responsibilities of citizenship in a complex, pluralistic society.