Interfaith gathering in Commack celebrates spirit of Martin Luther King Jr. 

The spirit of the late Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was celebrated with prayer, song and a call to action during an interfaith gathering at the Suffolk Y Jewish Community Center in Commack on Sunday evening.

Speakers used King’s own words throughout the program to illustrate the overarching theme “Righteous Anger: How Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Used Love to Confront Justice.”

They also encouraged the audience to keep battling the same societal problems that King worked to solve during his life, cut short by an assasin's bullet in 1968. Some of these included housing discrimination and income inequality.

“Fighting injustice is hard work and we need to have more courage,” said Tracey Edwards, Long Island regional director of the NAACP, who delivered the keynote address. “We need to stand up much more than what we are doing today.”

Edwards recounted the struggle she and her family faced while trying to purchase a home on Long Island and referenced Newsday’s “Long Island Divided” series that outlined discriminatory practices by real estate agents against clients who were people of color.

She said plans for a gun rights rally in Richmond, Virginia on Monday, a day reserved for remembering King’s legacy of non-violence, was one of the most “disrespectful” things she had ever heard.

“I don’t think it’s a coincidence,” she said.

Richard Koubek, chair of Abraham’s Table of Long Island, the evening's sponsor and an interfaith group formed to foster dialogue between religious groups, spoke of segregated school systems and lopsided resources that make it difficult for children in poor districts to have opportunities to advance.

"We have a dual system of schools, a dual economy and a dual housing market,” he said.

The two-hour gathering included Christian, Jewish, Muslim, Hindu and Unitarian Universalist readings.

“This means a lot to me,” said Tim Sampson of Commack. “There’s so much hatred and bigotry in the world. You feel differently after you leave.”

Another attendee, Met Moran of Melville, who came with his wife, daughter and some family friends.“We came to honor (King) and learn more about him."

“It was a great program and covered a lot of material we have lived with all our lives,” said Mary Simon of Huntington, who came with a group from St John’s Episcopal Church in Huntington. “The more programs that you have like this and the more diverse people participating, the more you are going to get the message across of where we should be and what we should do.”