There’s something about photographing breakfasts that usually turns me off. After all, taking talking-head photos at microphones isn’t exactly challenging. The exceptions are the Wild Irish Breakfast’s humor, and the annual Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. events.

I attended the latter this morning at the Alpine Grove in Hollis. For me, there was more to this event, than taking photos of the youths dancing, and the animated speakers. There was plenty of “life” going on there, and it stirred up memories of my early childhood days, growing up in a suburb of Chicago.

As the keynote speaker, Olga Tines-Smith, a minister at New Fellowship Baptist Church talked about President-elect, Barack Obama, segregation, and the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, it brought back memories for me.

Although I was young, I can still remember my parents’ talking about the riots in the local high schools, when African-American students from nearby communities, were bussed out of their neighborhood schools, and into predominantly white schools. Tensions were high.

 I would have attended one of those high schools, if our family wouldn’t have moved to Wisconsin. That wasn’t the reason, but I’m thankful for moving to a small town, where prejudice did exist, but folks were much kinder to each other. As a youngster, I wondered why skin color would make people act so rash towards each other.

Rukia Bilal, center, is a Manchester Central student.

After leaving today’s breakfast, I was met outside by two women and a student who asked me to photograph them. Their camera wasn’t working, so I used mine, and will email them the picture. After striking up a conversation with them, they told me that this young woman was a Manchester Central student, and a refugee from Somalia. They told me that she had an arranged marriage there, and is a mother. These ladies had brought her to the breakfast to encourage her to be a leader in her community.

A leader, I thought. Wow! This young Muslim girl came from a horrible place where she was did not have the freedom to choose a partner in life. She didn’t have the rights that we cherish. Her life in Somalia was probably not much different from the way the African-Americans were treated in the United States in the mid-1900’s. I wonder how she views the swearing in Tuesday of the first African-American president of the United States.

-Bob Hammerstrom

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