Luncheon brings awareness of King’s message

  • Published
  • By Deborah Silliman Wolfe
  • Thunderbolt staff writer
LUKE AIR FORCE BASE, Ariz. --  It would have been Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s 80th birthday as Luke Air Force Base celebrated the life of the civil rights leader with a luncheon held at the Desert Star Club on Jan. 15. 

The event, which was led by master of ceremonies Ben Bruce, 56th Fighter Wing ground safety manager, included a poetry reading, entertainment from the Luke Gospel Choir, a lunch consisting of southern specialties, and a moving presentation by retired Air Force Master Sgt. and the Rev. John Moore, Sr. 

"You could close your eyes and think you were actually listening to Dr. Martin Luke King," said Staff Sgt. Jennifer Aucoin, 56th Dental Squadron dental assistant about Moore's presentation. "It was amazing!" 

Moore's presentation, Echoes of a Prophet, consisted of a PowerPoint slideshow of pictures of Dr. King and from the civil rights movement put to music. The reverand then orated portions of five speeches of Dr. Kings throughout the slideshow. Moore has been doing his presentation for more than seven years and according to his biography, he works on recreating King's mannerisms, vocal pitch, pauses and even stutters, in each of the speeches. 

"I had always studied his speeches, and wanted to come up with a way that I could do a presentation," Moore said. "When I was at the Airman Leadership School, one of my students did a presentation on the American flag with slides and music. I said, 'I bet I can do that with MLK.' I wanted to go out and educate a lot of these young folks that don't know about him." 

Moore said he thought the program at Luke was well received and he was honored that he received two standing ovations from the 280-plus crowd. 

Master Sgt. Adam Lewis, 56th FW project officer for the MLK special observance, said he was happy with the way the luncheon turned out, and especially enjoyed Moore's part in the event. 

"You never know what to expect until you actually see the presentation," Sergeant Lewis said. "And Moore's presentation gave me goose bumps."