Burlington’s NAACP Celebrates Martin Luther King Jr.

He had a dream, and for 25 years now, Burlington’s Branch of the NAACP has celebrated that dream at the Memorial Auditorium in Burlington.

At tonight’s Martin Luther King Jr. Dinner, several members of the city council spoke, including newly elected mayor Shane McCampbell….

“Some of the history isn’t always good, but there is a good part of the history as well. When you think back to Harriet Tubman and the underground railroad, a lot of the help she had to make that successful for so many years, was through white friends.”

Police Chief Doug Beaird also wanted to point out the changes regarding diversity in the Burlington Police Department. Beaird has been able to hire two new officers, who are both highly educated minorities…

“I feel very privileged that I had those top quality candidates to pick. Both of these individuals have 4-year educations from very prestigious organizations. They are college athletes. What more could you ask? I will also add, and he probably won’t like me saying this, but Jordan Smith, when he went to the Iowa Law Enforcement Academy, he did something that nobody else has done in the history of the Burlington Police Department, he graduated number one in his class.”

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