On Monday, Jan. 16, 2017, the Roanoke Valley Chapter of North Carolina Agricultural & Technical (NCA&T) State University Alumni Association hosted its 20th Annual Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day Breakfast Celebration. The commemoration honored the life and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., a drum major for justice, peace and righteousness. Held at the Hotel Roanoke & Conference Center with approximately 300 people attending.
The members of the Roanoke Valley Alumni Chapter express sincere appreciation and gratitude to everyone in the Roanoke Valley and beyond who has supported their event during the past 20 years.
Roanoke City Mayor Sherman Lea, Sr. extended greetings and expressed the importance of following the King dream. Demetria Tucker, charter member served as the hostess for this 20th Annual Breakfast.
The audience graciously and enthusiastically received the entertainment of students from the Roanoke City Schools. A musical rendition of Louis Armstrong’s “What a Wonderful World” was given by Derrail Reynolds, Jr. accompanied by his brother Kameron Reynolds on the trumpet. Kai Washington-Brown performed a beautiful and graceful dance followed by a tremendous heartfelt solo from Kennady Wade taken from Andra Day’s “Rise Up.”
The guest speaker was the Honorable Henry E. Frye, first Black Chief Justice of the North Carolina Supreme Court who graduated from NCA&T with honors majoring in biology and chemistry. After graduation, he entered the Air Force and received training in Montgomery Alabama and rose to the rank of Captain before leaving after four years. During his time in Montgomery he visited Dr. King’s church, Dexter Avenue Baptist Church and almost tearfully shared memories of his sermon. He was honored to have met Dr. King that Sunday and was destined to live up to the words of this great minister.
Justice Frye, 84, became the first African American to enter the law school at the University of North Carolina as a first year student. In 1968, he became the first African American to be elected to a two year term in the North Carolina Senate. In 1983, Frye became the first African American to serve on the Supreme Court of North Carolina. He was appointed by North Carolina Governor Jim Hunt to serve as Chief Justice of the Supreme Court in 1999. He retired from the court in 2001 and returned to private practice. He is a Visiting Professor of Political Science and Justice at NCA&T.
Justice Frye stressed the importance of voting, placing those in office that we want to serve. He issued a clarion call to all of us to exercise the hard fought and won right to vote. Chief Justice Frye offered this challenge to all who were present.
As members of the Roanoke Valley Alumni Chapter NCA&T State University, we accept the challenge from Justice Frye and in doing so challenge every eligible voter to pass the challenge to vote on to others. We thank everyone in the Roanoke Valley for accepting the challenge.
