The Kansas City men of Alpha Phi Alpha celebrated the holiday honoring their Alpha brother Martin Luther King Jr. with their 27th annual program. This year, their event was a breakfast held at UMKC.
The breakfast, held two days before the inauguration of Donald Trump, featured a timely panel discussion on “What’s Next for the Black Community.” Panelists included Pastor Darron Edwards of United Believers Community Church; Dr. Vernon Howard Jr., president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference of Greater Kansas City; and Terry Riley, former Kansas City councilmember and Missouri state representative.
Panelists who spoke on the topic “What’s Next for the Black Community” were (L-R) Terry Riley, Dr. Vernon Howard Jr., and Pastor Darron Edwards. 
Ken Baccus, Alpha Phi Alpha member and community leader, shared his comments on King’s tenets for moving ahead as a community. 
People of all ages engaged in the discussion. 
Marguita and Jeff Perkins brought their young family members for this informative King holiday event.
The discussion turned to our need to focus on building our community, something panelists said we have done in the past during periods of renewed segregation ethic.
“We tend to turn to each other a little bit more. We tend to engage in Black institution building a little bit more because we then reject the myth that somehow our freedom and our liberation and our healing as a people is in those systems and structures anyhow,” said Howard.