The Dayton Daily News asked several local leaders what Martin Luther King Jr. Day means to them and how they think the revered activist and minister would feel if he were alive today.
Sharon White, Premier Health
Sharon White is system director, community and government relations and site communications at Premier Health.
A phrase White heard frequently growing up was “We’re not where we used to be, but we’re not where we need to be.” She said that still resonates with her.
“We’re still struggling with issues from the past today,” she said. “We still need courageous voices. It’s a time where we have to recommit personally. You have to be unrelenting in that.”
She feels the Dr. King would be disheartened by how divided communities are. But he would also be calling upon people feeling apathetic or discouraged to press forward and fight for a better world.
“No matter what the battle was, even in the darkest hours, he still felt that we are stronger together than apart,” he said. “He would implore us to see beyond ourselves and embrace unity as the only path forward.”
The Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. once said “Everybody can be great because anybody can serve.” White said the annual day set aside to honor his memory is the perfect day to give back.
“As bad as people might think it is, I still look at Dr. King and his holiday as a time to reflect on how we can serve,” she said.
Stephen Hightower, Hightowers Petroleum Company
King’s dreams have yet to be fulfilled, said Butler County businessman Stephen Hightower, president and CEO of Hightowers Petroleum.
“I believe that Dr. King was an individual with integrity, who believed in the rights of everyday people,” Hightower said. “He would be very disappointed to know how in 2025 we’re still fighting some of the same issues that we did prior to his death.”
Hightower pointed to barriers toward voting — coming in the form of legislation in states like Ohio — as something that would disturb King.
“Legislators are wanting to turn the clock back. It’s a matter of power,” he said. “He would be disappointed that what he worked for is reverting back to where he started.”
Hightower said he thinks King would also be disheartened by terms like “DEI” and other labels being villainized. He said companies like his are melting pots that work hard everyday, but still are looked down upon.
“It’s a way of putting you into a box, that you don’t belong,” he said. “Why can’t we be at a point in time today where we are just companies competing, and being great and beating our competitors on a straight-up basis. We have to get to a point where they accept the fact that once we have the opportunity to learn the business, we can outplay them! We can compete!”
Mary McDonald, Montgomery County commission
Montgomery County Commissioner Mary McDonald, who started her first term this year, said Martin Luther King Jr. Day this year is a time to remember that the work that King began decades ago remains unfinished.
“I believe he would be shocked to see that we have not progressed further than we have,” she said. “The growing divide in the world today is, unfortunately, reminiscent of his time.”
But McDonald said she thinks the Dayton region’s work to bridge divides would impress Dr. King. She said her election may also have brought him joy, as she was the first Black woman in Montgomery County’s history to be elected to the seat.
McDonald, too, said she is encouraged by people working around her to make their communities better places for all.
“I am encouraged by the many people who continue to carry forward his mission and vision for justice and equality,” she said.
Dale Henry, former Springfield mayor
If alive today, King would likely have many questions, said Dale Henry, who was a city commissioner and mayor of Springfield in the 1990s. Henry now runs the Gammon House in Springfield, a former stop on the Underground Railroad.
“I believe the issues of voting, freedom and equality would be most prominent in his mind,” Henry said. “But he’d have so many other questions: why are there so many civil rights violations? This country has always been multicultural, so why is diversity, equity and inclusion still a major issue?”
King would also be concerned for vulnerable people in their communities and would feel worried over their needs not being met by their neighbors, Henry said.
Henry said this year, he’s reflecting on the need for community engagement. He said he’d love to see more young people make change in their communities, whether it be by volunteering or by consistently voting in their local elections.
In his home of Clark County, Henry said there has never been a Black resident elected to the Clark County commission. He’d love to see that change.
Taylor Johnson, Spectrum New Beginnings
Taylor Johnson is the executive director of a nonprofit called Spectrum New Beginnings, which focuses on wellness and healing.
Johnson said there are many things should could identify as challenges or setbacks since King’s passing, but many advancements and achievements have also occurred and are worth dwelling on and celebrating.
“I think he would be proud over all of the progress that we’ve made as a nation and even internationally, around just honoring humans for the things that we have in common rather than the things that we don’t,” she said.
To Johnson, Martin Luther King Jr. Day is a time for contemplation — where are we now? What have we accomplished? Who came before us?
“It’s an opportunity to rest in the present moment, in the present age of where we are, knowing that there’s still room to grow,” she said.
Derrick Foward, Dayton NAACP
Credit: Provided
Credit: Provided
King saw the foundation for progress before his death in 1968. Advancements include measures put into place to protect people’s rights in their schools, in their homes and in the voting booth. But recent years, Dayton Unit NAACP President Derrick Foward said, have seen the uprooting of these foundational principles of civil rights.
And to King, this would be heartbreaking.
“We have people in our Congress who don’t want our children learning true American history,” Foward said. “We’re seeing our voting rights dismantled. We’re seeing rollback after rollback.”
On a national scale, Foward said he felt King would be embarrassed to see the nation’s 47th president. Learning about the Jan. 6 insurrection and it aftermath would also shock King to his core, Forward said.
Locally, Foward pointed to how many complaints his NAACP chapter receives from community members to investigate are related to education: Black children feeling intimidated in their schools, being bullied and being harassed by classmates who use racial slurs.
In Foward’s office on Salem Avenue, he has displayed a painting of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X — both shedding tears — looking down on people using drugs, gambling, hurting each other and more.
“He would be weeping,” Foward said. “And I weep with him.”
But the Dayton region is also filled with hope. King would be elated to see the development of Central State University, for example. Many Black men and women have graduated from the same college where King earned an honorary degree in 1958, and those men and women have moved on to push for change. This would bring King joy, Foward said.
Tae Winston, entrepreneur
Tae Winston’s passion is helping local entrepreneurs succeed and seeing her beloved city of Dayton thrive. She’s the owner of the Entrepreneurs Shoppe in Dayton, which hosts a slew of small businesses.
She recalls having to hustle hard when she was first getting started.
“Things were hard for me,” she said. “There wasn’t resources, there weren’t people around to tell me what I needed to do to be successful. And now I don’t gatekeep. I love my city and I feel like it’s important to help and encourage others.”
She thinks the revival of the city and the prevalence of Black-owned businesses in the area would make King happy.
“Of course, everything is not perfect. We still have a lot to learn,” she said. “But I think we’ve needed to come together many times to overcome challenges like COVID, for example. Our community, too, united after the Oregon District shooting. We were all out there together, and we all loved on each other and supported each other.”
Breighton Smith, Warren County Clerk of Courts
Credit: Breighton And Basette Photograph
Credit: Breighton And Basette Photograph
Breighton Smith, former Warren County GOP chairman and the new Warren County clerk of courts, said King’s dream is still alive.
The public official said he has encountered people throughout his lifetime who have treated him differently because of the color of his skin. But those experiences do not define who he is as a person, and he said he feels blessed to live in a country where he feels he’s not defined by people or traits he cannot control.
“I am a proud American, who just so happens to be a Black man of Jamaican and Israeli descent. I am a husband, who just so happens to be blessed with a marriage to the love of my life: a woman who happens to be white,” he said. “I am a citizen and public servant, who just so happens to have been gifted with the honor of being twice-elected to represent populations of mostly white constituencies. And those things are still just a part of who I really am.”
Smith said individual freedom is the core of King’s dream.
“Although perfection is impossible and there will always be work to do, there is no other place on God’s earth where the opportunity for true racial and ethnic solidarity is more abundant than in these United States of America,” he said.
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