Thousands of people in the audience joined in singing at today's Martin Luther King Day celebration at the Reardon Convention Center in Kansas City, Kan. (Staff photo)

   Work for civil rights and be willing to sacrifice for them was one of the messages at today’s  Martin Luther King Day celebration at the Reardon Center in Kansas City, Kan.

   “The walls are down,” said the Rev. Major Lewis Jemison, the keynote speaker, citing the biblical story of Nehemiah, who was led by God to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem. “What can we do in the 21st century to build those walls up again?”

   “I know we have a black man in the White House, but the walls are still down,” he said. Echoing Martin Luther King, he said, “It’s midnight in America in the 21st century. It is darker than a hundred midnights now.”

   Jemison mentioned the jobs situation, education, youths and other topics in his address. He said there were more black youths in prison now than in college. He said that despite these conditions, God had always found a man to lead others, at every critical juncture.

   He told those attending that they, like Nehemiah and Martin Luther King, needed to be willing to sacrifice time, talent and even their lives to lift others up. A commitment and an involvement, not just a day, are needed to lift up those who cannot lift themselves up, he said.

   He cited a victorious Chicago Bears football team of the past that liked to bicker right up until game time. When they went onto the field, they laid all their differences aside, he said.

   “I come today to tell you, KCK, it’s game time. It’s time for us to suit up,” he said.