Page 1 Page 2 Page 3 Page 4 Page 5 Page 6 Page 7 Page 8 Page 9 Page 10 Page 11 Page 12 Page 13 Page 14 Page 15 Page 16 Page 17 Page 18 Page 19 Page 20 Page 21 Page 22 Page 23 Page 2421 JANUARY 2017 BODY OF CHRIST NEWS Mrs. Alma Polidore Grant 09/30/34- 11/08/16 82, Denver Services were held at Taylor Mortuary Denver Chapel Mr. George Clifford Williams Sr. 12/9/24- 11/14/16 91, Denver Services were held at Taylor Mortuary Denver Chapel Mr. Willie B. Jordan 12/14/18 - 10/12/16 97, OK Direct Ship-Out to Tulsa, Ok Ms. Kelly Marie Holmes 06/17/62- 11/24/16 54, Denver Services were held at Taylor Mortuary Denver Chapel Mother Juanita Hill 03/4/20- 11/07/16 96, Denver Services were held at Greater Union Baptist Church Mr. Anthony Edward Hatch 01/14/52- 11/24/16 64, Commerce City Services were held at Taylor Mortuary Denver Chapel Ms. Isobel Pannell 12/27/37- 11/24/16 78, Aurora Services were held at Taylor Mortuary Denver Chapel Baby Yiraida M. Aguila 11/20/16 - 11/20/16 Private services were held Mr. Robert Peace III 8/24/50- 11/24/16 66, Aurora Services were held at Taylor Mortuary Denver Chapel Rev. Bryce Allen Rodgers 08/30/59- 11/03/16 57, Denver Services were held at True Light Baptist Church Mr. John Hazzard Jr. 08/05/24- 11/12/16 92, Denver Services were held at Taylor Mortuary Denver Chapel Mr. Rufino Alfonso Perez 04/26/62- 11/27/16 54, Denver Direct Ship-Out Ms. Sherry Ann Edwards 05/11/49- 11/03/16 67, Aurora Services were held at Taylor Mortuary Denver Chapel Mr. De'Ondray Trayvon Fite 10/8/92- 11/20/16 24, Denver Services were held at Taylor Mortuary Denver Chapel Mr. Sylvester Tally 05/28/57- 11/28/16 59, Aurora Services were held at Heritage Christian Center Mr. Dometrik Brame Sr. 04/26/73- 11/30/16 43, Las Vegas, NE Services were held at Macedonia Baptist Church NOT PICTURED CORRECTION from last month Still Leading the March Vern Howard is known for doing a lot while head- ing up the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Colorado Holiday Commission. But what few don’t know is how he was marching before there was an official holiday honoring the late Dr. King. “I was marching with the young people trying to get Martin Luther King Jr. made an official state holi- day. We would meet at the MLK statue in city park and march over to Manual High School or down to Macedonia Baptist Church. And then it dawned on us that we weren’t getting anywhere because all the politicians were downtown. So we started marching down Colfax to the statehouse,” said Howard who has spent the past 17 years as chair of the MLK Colorado Holiday Commission. At that time, Howard said Mayor Federico Pena allowed the group to march along 16th street down- town. But it wasn’t until 12 years later, a state house bill passed making MLK day an official holiday in Colorado. Gov. Dick Lamm signed the bill into law on April 4, 1986. Howard doesn’t deny Wilma Webb is credited for starting the MLK marade and activities for the day. He added how one of the first ministers to march in the marade was Rev. Dewberry and the first politi- cian to join the march was the late city councilman Elvin Caldwell Sr. “It gained momentum for other politicians to come out and join the marade,” added Howard. Unfortunately, the 2016 MLK marade in January was over shadowed by some negativity. “We had certain members of the community – Black Lives Matter 5280 and some members of the Greater Denver Ministerial Alliance who were separate from the alliance - upstage and disrupt the marade to call out Mayor Michael Hancock,” explained Howard as it caused sponsors to pull out because it wasn’t in the spirit of celebrating Dr. King’s legacy. “If there was a community issue that needed to be aired, we have allowed folks to do that. But there are rules that apply. You can disagree with an elect- ed official, however, you don’t call that elected official out. Dr. King and Malcolm X didn’t see eye to eye on how to get to the Promised Land. They both want- ed to get to the Promised Land. But neither one of them would interrupt each other’s events.” Funding is still lacking for this coming year’s (2017) marade. But Howard said it’s not going to stop Denver from still hosting the largest MLK day celebration in the country. He stated how, “The one thing about Dr. King is that he was for all people, all races, color and creed. The civil rights movement came out of Dr. King’s human rights issues. If we respect people’s human rights, we wouldn’t need civil rights.” Howard’s passion for continu- ing a legacy that honors a man who changed the country was rooted with his grandparents. They were strong activists and Christians in the Denver com- munity. “I met Dr. King when I was six years old,” he said. “Anytime Dr. King came to Colorado, the min- isterial alliance was instrumen- tal in housing him. My grand- parents worked with the minis- terial alliance the last time Dr. King came to Denver.” Back in 2006, Howard attend- ed Dr. King’s wife, Coretta Scott King’s funeral. He also went to Washington D.C. to attend the special dedication of the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. monu- ment. Now it is Howard‘s turn to be bestowed with honors. Different community organi- zations will present him with an honorary doctorate degree for his work and time spent on doing the MLK holiday events over the years. The ceremony will be on Jan. 10 during the Dr. King Humanitarian Awards at the Boettcher Concert Hall. Vern Howard Body of Christ News