Natick’s children, town and spiritual leaders, community groups, and others from Natick and beyond joined for the 18th Annual MLK Day Celebration on Monday at Kennedy Middle School.

Many of these participants took part in a community reading of excerpts from Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s “The Drum Major Instinct.” Students from the Natick High School Black & Hispanic Student Alliance joined to read a poem titled “Community” in which they said “We are a community that gathers together to spread love within each other.”

We heard more than once during the program—and were convinced—that the community’s youth are the ones who will will truly help the world further the progress inspired by Dr. King. The students sang, played music, read poetry, and displayed their art during the event. You can view MLK Day Creative Contest Submissions online.

Keynote speaker Kevin J. McCarthy, whose talk was titled “Creating the Beloved Community in Natick,” built on Dr. King’s words in leaving the audience with this: “What are you doing to make a change in your soul? And then what are you doing to make a change in your life that will make a change in the life of the next generation?”