Middle School named for Martin Luther King Jr.
King family friend and activist Jennings, 81, delivers words of hope
Just before school let out on Wednesday afternoon, Asbury Park Middle School’s students and administration figuratively changed the course of their direction.
The over 550 student body and the faculty were joined by parents and community members to rename the school – The Martin Luther King Jr. Middle School.
School Superintendent Lamont Repollet said the name change reflects the educational renaissance that is happening in the local school system.
“Let today be a fresh start on an academic building that has undergone a shift in academic focus,” Repollet said. “The name denotes a visionary leader that saw the audacity to believe in greater opportunities that life has to offer for those bold enough to take the challenge.”
Joining the commemorative ceremony was lifelong activist and civil rights leader Edith Savage-Jennings.
The 81-year-old Trenton native participated in civil rights marches, rallies and demonstrations since the age of 13 when she sat in restricted movie theater seats. She has been invited to the White House 11 times since her first visit as a teen during Franklin Delano Roosevelt tenure when she presented flowers to Mrs. Eleanor Roosevelt.
“I was supposed to say nothing,” Jennings said. “I said to Mrs. Roosevelt I am so happy to present you with these flowers but I’m also glad to say to you I want to thank you for being so nice to colored people. Well she loved it and I became a friend to her and pen pal and so forth.”
A close friend of the King family, Jennings worked closely with Coretta Scott King to establish the Martin Luther King Jr Center in the years after Rev. King’s death. The King children refer to her as Auntie Edith.
“I wish you could have known this gentle man,” Jennings told the crowd. “He was my leader, he was my friend, and he was my brother.”
Jennings message to the students included a directive to keep their grades up, find something other than hanging in streets to do, and aim for a college education.
“I’m so pleased that you are here,” she said. “I don’t know about tomorrow. I don’t know what the future holds but I do believe it will get better and we’ll all be free someday.”
For students Tiiana Barnes, 13, Eddeja Watts, 14, and Perfecto Kendle, 12, the significance of the name change came with not only school pride but a legacy of hope, they said.
“This is wonderful,” Barnes said. “He went through a lot. The things he did were right.”
“I’m honored to have Dr. King’s daughter here,” Watts said. “His name signifies love and peace.”
“It signifies equality,” Kendle said. “Dr. King’s legacy is being outstretched to this school as well as at others.”
Parents and community members said the name change’s significance will ripple throughout the community.
“It signifies progress in the right direction for the community,” resident Duane Small said. “When you rename a school in Dr. King’s honor it give the students something to aspire to.”
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