Concord MLK event highlights ideas of the past that still linger today

The idea of segregated schools in 2026 upset Raoul Kahurwa.

He addressed the comments the chair of a House education committee made last week in his speech at a Martin Luther King Jr. event in Concord on Monday, a holiday for the slain civil rights leader.

“This mindset helps explain why the Department of Education Data shows that black students, while making a 15% enrollment school enrollment nationwide, account for 45% of school suspension days,” he said. “These outcomes don’t happen by accident. They are shaped by leadership, policy and power.”

He was one of the speakers to invoke King’s memory in front of a crowd of children and parents at the event sponsored by Project STORY, at the 11th Letter writing gallery downtown.

Aaron Ntshibambuyi asked to speak at the community event.

The 13-year-old Rundlett student spoke the year before and felt he had more to say about the iconic civil rights leader.

“Martin Luther King means a lot to me, because without him, the world wouldn’t be like how it is today,” said Ntshibambuyi, the son of refugee parents.

“He was such a great person,” Ntshibambuyi said. “Plus, he did a lot of things with the community that better shaped the world.”

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