BILOXI - A goal of the youth group of New Community Missionary Baptist Church on Nixon Street is to be involved in the community.
About 20 of the youngsters did just that Saturday afternoon by marching in the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. Parade along Division Street.
Even the group's attire - white tops and black trousers - depicted the late slain civil rights leader's message of racial harmony.
And at least one member of the group was doing just what King did during his lifetime - urge others to have a dream.
"That's going to be me someday," Lauren Hunter, 11, said as she watched the purple and gold clad majorettes of the Alcorn State University Marching Band strut their stuff.
Alcorn State sent not only its band but its president, Clinton Bristow Jr., to take part in the observance of King's 70th birthday.
King's actual birthday was Friday, but is observed as a national holiday on the third Monday of January.
As keynote speaker, Bristow said Alcorn State, like King, has a dream as the historically black university overcomes daily obstacles. The basis of that dream is providing quality education for students who might not have the opportunity.
"We're very proud to be a state university," Bristow said, "because there are no restrictions for being admitted. There are still some private institutions that you can't attend."
Saturday's program, attended by a crowd of several hundred, was held at the Martin Luther King Jr. Municipal Building on the Washington Loop.
The Biloxi branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, the Committee for the Coastwide Martin Luther King Jr. Celebration, St. Paul United Methodist Church and other houses of worship, and community organizations are seeking to have the loop or other city street renamed for King.
Two weeks ago, the city Planning Commission declined to endorse the renaming of Washington Loop.
Dr. Gilbert R. Mason, past president of the Biloxi NAACP, read a resolution setting forth that proposition, and James Crowell, the branch's president, urged those present to attend the Biloxi City Council meeting at 1:30 p.m. Tuesday in City Hall, where the street renaming issue is to be discussed.
Earlier in the day, about 40 people gathered at the Bay Flag Living Memorial on U.S. 90 in Bay St. Louis for a King observance, which was highlighted by the laying of a wreath. The event was sponsored by the Veterans of Foreign Wars and the Hancock County NAACP.
The branch's president, the Rev. Lee Morris, pastor of New Home Missionary Baptist Church in Gautier, and its vice president, the Rev. Francis Theriault of St. Rose De Lima Catholic Church in Bay St. Louis, and Bay St. Louis Councilwoman Connie Lampley were the speakers.
Metric Dockins can be reached at 467-6663 or 896-2438 or at maildrop@sunherald.infi.net