St. Mary’s City, MD- On Monday, Jan. 21, the St. Mary’s College of Maryland hosted their fifteenth Martin Luther King, Jr. Prayer Breakfast, featuring Congressman Steny Hoyer and veteran broadcast news anchor Maureen Bunyan as speakers.

The breakfast began with a performance by the St. Peter Claver Gospel Choir before St. Mary’s College President  Dr. Tuajuanda C. Jordan gave her welcoming remarks. The choir then performed again before Dr. Jordan introduced House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer to the audience. She acknowledged Hoyer’s “over 30 years” representing Southern Maryland and “over two-decades as a member of the college’s board of trustees.”

Hoyer, [D-MD District 5]., approached the podium to much applause. When the room settled the smile faded from the fifth district representative’s face, and the room shifted to a more serious tone. The Congressman acknowledged the hardships that many African Americans faced during the Civil Rights Era before stating that Martin Luther King Jr. Day (MLK Day) is a day to “rededicate ourselves to the principles of our country that we are not living out.” Hoyer then shared that MLK Day is not a day “about black history” but instead one about “American history of whatever color, whatever race, whatever religion, and whatever sexual orientation.”

Hoyer addressed the almost month-long government shutdown, stating, “I’ve been in office for 50 years, I don’t know that I’ve ever seen America so divided.” The representative then brought the speech back to “living out” the American principles outlined in “The Preamble” of the U.S. Constitution by stating, “We hold these truths to be self-evident, but they are not self-executing”—a quote from President Obama’s inaugural address.

Congressman Hoyer concluded his address on a statement of bipartisanship, describing the breakfast he recently shared with State Senator Jack Bailey [R-District 29]. “I hope that Jack and I represented all of you, sitting down together at breakfast today, saying we’ll work together.”

Hoyer left the breakfast right after his speech, but not before walking over to shake the hand of Bailey. Hoyer left to speak at North Point High School that morning for the Charles County NAACP’s 24th annual Martin Luther King Jr. Prayer Breakfast.

The event’s keynote speaker was Maureen Bunyan, former WJLA (ABC 7) and WUSA (CBS 9) news anchor who received multiple awards in her 44-years in television news. Bunyan is also the founder of the International Women’s Media Foundation. Originally from Aruba in the Caribbean, Bunyan used her own experiences and the history of the slave trade in the Caribbean to inform the crowd on the issues that African-Americans face.

The former news anchor also spent time discussing how the ills committed by colonial governments may be accounted for. Bunyan detailed the “movement for reparative justice” which describes the ways colonizers helped repair the damage they caused in the Caribbean, citing the “war on poverty” as a form of “non-monetary” reparations in America. Bunyan also recommended many books for the audience to write down and read later, joking that she wanted them to “have [the books] read by next week.”

Jack Bailey, Brian Crosby, and St. Mary’s County Commissioners’ President Randy Guy, plus commissioners Michael Hewitt, Eric Colvin, John O’Connor and Todd Morgan were present at the breakfast. State Senator Ben Cardin and U.S. Senator Chris Van Hollen had representatives present. 

The day also included remarks from College Trustee Chair Sven Holmes, St. Mary’s County NAACP president William Hall, and performances by multiple dance groups among other announcements. Pastor Kenneth Moore gave the benediction to close out the breakfast.

Contact Jerold at staffwriter@thebaynet.com.