Community

Employees honor the legacy of MLK Jr.

Staff Reports

Williams employees are honoring the legacy of slain civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr.

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Love Conquers Hate is the theme for the 2017 MLK Day Parade in Tulsa.

Dozens of employees marched in the 38th Annual MLK Parade in downtown Tulsa on Monday. Williams is a sponsor of the parade, which this year was themed “Love Conquers Hate.”

Carmela Hill, a senior community relations specialist, said the theme is apt and a reminder that history must not repeat itself.

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The Tulsa parade is routed through the historic Greenwood district.

“The Tulsa parade is routed through the historic Greenwood district – the former home of ‘Black Wall Street’ and the site of the Tulsa Race Riot of 1921,” she said. “When companies like Williams allow employees like me the opportunity to march side-by-side with a diverse array of organizations, I view it as collective steps toward community healing and unity, and steps of faith forging a new path for our future generations to follow.”

In Houston, two community services projects are underway to commemorate MLK Day.

The Williams LGBTA Business Resource Group, in cooperation with the Human Rights Campaign, sponsored a donation drive to support homeless youth in Houston. Employees donated clothing, toiletries and other essentials.

Houston employees also planned a Day of Service this week to benefit area nonprofits, including the Houston Food Bank, where volunteers will sort items and fill backpacks for students on Tuesday.

Louis Bollinger, a project control support administrator, said MLK’s mission of equality, service and peace endures today.

“Williams employees are embracing these ideas and the Day of Service by volunteering their time and donating items to the donation drive in support of LGBT youth who are homeless,” he said. “It’s in these actions of our employees we see his legacy continue.”