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Annual Interfaith Service Was An Event Honoring History, Religion And Service
BY KENYA WOODARD Sentinel Feature Writer
Songs, prayers for peace, and recognition of a local community leader marked the 30th Annual Interfaith Memorial Service Monday afternoon at Allen Temple AME Church.
Hundreds of religious leaders and followers of the Christian, Muslim, Jewish, and Unitarian Universalist faiths packed the pews to ob- serve the Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday.
The event, sponsored by the Hillsborough County Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Commemoration Com- mittee, featured musical per- formances by the Ismaili Community Council for Florida Choir, Bible-Based Fellowship Choir, Tampa Bay Women’s Chorus, and the St. Paul’s Roman Catholic Latino Choir.
Additionally, Mr. James Arthur Hammond was honored with the 2016
ERIC DEGGANS ...Interfaith Service keynote speaker
Robert W. Saunders Award
for his more than fifty years of dedication and service to the Tampa community.
U. S. Rep. Kathy Castor (D-FL) challenged the audi- ence to push back against the “rhetoric of fear” that domi- nates the country’s political landscape.
In his remarks, keynote speaker Eric Deggans spoke about the importance of diversity in the media.
James A. Hammond, second from right, was presented the Robert W. Saunders Award. He is shown with, from left, Dr. Roy Kaplan, Dr. Samuel L. Wright, Sr. and Rev. Dr. Bernice Jackson.
the power of diversity in the media, even back then,” he said.
Deggans, a television critic for National Public Radio (NPR) and a former Tampa Bay Times reporter, said some of those same tac- tics are repeating with re- porting on race and protests against police brutality being relegated to a “specialty” part of news coverage.
For example, why wasn’t the practice of predatory policing of Ferguson citizens reported before the shooting of Michael Brown by an officer, Deggans asked.
This continues because both America and the news business remain resistant to change, he said.
But news consumers can agitate media outlets for bet- ter coverage of race-related issues, Deggan said.
“You can push for better coverage,” he said. “You can push for equality.” Photos by Lomax McIntyre)
The Civil Rights Move- ment (in the 1950s and 60s) was covered extensively by the Black press and televi- sion news, but it was mini- mized by mainstream newspapers – especially those in the south.
Coverage of the brutal police attacks were displayed prominently on the front page of Black newspapers, but were hidden inside the sections of major southern papers, Deggans said.
“It was a huge lesson in
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