Prayer Gathering contemplates what’s next in building the ‘Beloved Community’
Swannanoa Valley Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial Corp. preserves legacy of love
Fred McCormick
The Valley Echo
February 10, 2025
A “Beloved Community,” within which love and respect are shared equally and justice serves everyone, was a future envisioned by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., as he crusaded for a just society.
As the Swannanoa Valley Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Prayer Gathering returned, Feb. 8, for its 35th year, the theme of the event explored the next steps toward making the civil right’s icon vision a reality.
The gathering, held for the first time at St. James Episcopal Church, supports scholarships for students in the Owen School District. Organized by the Swannanoa Valley Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial Corps., the service featured a keynote speech by Dr. Irene Owens, former dean and professor at N.C. Central University School of Library and Information Sciences.
The widely published educator, whose career recognitions include the Outstanding Service Award from Howard University, the Texas Excellence in Teaching Award, is a junior fellow in British Studies and a faculty fellow at the University of Texas at Austin, where the was the first African American to receive tenure in the college’s library and information sciences.
Her address explored the history of the concept of a beloved community, introduced in 1933 by Harvard philosopher and theologian Josiah Royce, who defined the term as “an ideal global society of unity, mutual concern for justice, peace and harmony that recognizes and honors and the value and worth of all you.”
King popularized the term more than 20 years later in essays and speeches.
“Probably one of the most important reasons for Dr. King succeeding in advancing the concept of beloved community is that he took the concept one step further and showed how it could be actualized,” Owens said. “Dr. King believed that with faith, the ideal community could be realized.”
The civil rights leader’s march from Selma to Montgomery, inspired by the success of the 1930 non-violent Salt March, led by Mahatma Gandhi and resulting in the decolonization of India, ushered in the passing of of the Voting Rights Act in 1965, a year after the Civil Rights Act was signed into law by then-president Lyndon B. Johnson.
Ending the institution of segregation, however, was not the greatest goal for the Montgomery Bus Boycott in 1956, King said in his speech at the protest.
“‘Rather, the end of the march is reconciliation. The end of the march is redemption,’” Owens quoted King. “‘The end of the march is the creation of the beloved community.’”
King’s words, she added, may be seen alongside the teachings of Jesus Christ.
“A movement built on the unconditional love of God, for the world, and the mandate to live in that love,” Owens said. “It also the teachings of the Sermon on the Mound, through which we are firmly reminded that God is devoted to our material, as well as our spiritual well-being.”
The SVMLK Memorial Corp., established in 1990 to preserve the legacy of King, who twice visited Black Mountain in the 1960s, promotes that message through its annual scholarships to students in the Owen School District. The nonprofit organization partners with local benefactors, patrons, businesses and sponsors, according to president Shelia Showers.
While Tropical Storm Helene devastated the Swannanoa Valley in 2024, the SVMLK Memorial Corp. found generous support from inside and outside of the community, according to scholarship fund chair Rochelle Daniel.
“We were able to award a total of $23,000 to 13 children of this valley, towards their goal of continuing their education,” she said. “Seven of those were renewals for previous applicants, for a total of $7,000. Six of them were new applicants, for a total of $16,000.”
The funding includes the Say Their Name Scholarship, which was established in 2022 through an anonymous donation. That program is available specifically for African American students, while the the nonprofit’s traditional scholarship is open to graduates from any background.
Daniel read a statement from Maurece Borkay, an Owen High School graduate who received the Say Their Name Scholarship in 2024.
“‘This scholarship has allowed me to attend college,’” she read from student’s message. “Along with other scholarships, this has helped me to achieve something I would only have been able to dream about. As a young man with ADHD, who struggled to get through high school, I decided to not let this define me, and I was accepted into the program at Appalachian State University that is designed for students with special needs.”
Among those recognized at the prayer gathering was Sylvia Carpenter, who is retiring after serving on the SVMLK Memorial Corp. board for 15 years. The event included performances by the Community Choir, which was led by Deacon Bobby Stafford of Mills Chapel Baptist Church and consisted of members from multiple local churches.
Photos of the 2025 Swannanoa Valley Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Prayer Gathering can be viewed in the gallery at the top of the page.