Rev. Dr. Martin
Luther King Jr.’s Birthday
Good morning.
We gather this morning
to reflect on God and to remember
the Rev. Dr. Martin
Luther King’s legacy of courage for our world
today.
Let’s start by remembering our history.
Nearly
one hundred years after the Emancipation Proclamation of 1863, Afri- can Americans, especially those in Southern
states, still lived in an unequal world of
segregation and various
forms of oppression, including race-inspired violence. “Jim Crow” laws at the local and state levels
barred African Americans from classrooms and bathrooms, from theaters and voting booths,
from juries and legislatures.
Finally, in 1954, the U.S. Supreme
Court struck down the “separate
but equal” laws that had allowed
racial discrimination in schools with the decision
of Brown vs. the Board
of Education.
In the turbulent years
that followed that important decision, civil rights activists used nonviolent protest
and civil disobedience to bring about change, as seen in movies
such as Selma, released
in 2014. Through
their action, the federal government finally enacted legislation such as the Voting Rights Act of 1965 and the Civil Rights Act
of 1968.
Many leaders
from within the African American
community and beyond
rose to prominence during
the civil rights
era, including Rev. Dr. Martin
Luther King Jr. and Rosa
Parks. In Kansas
City many leaders
such as Rev. Nelson
“Fuzzy” Thompson,
Congressman Emmanuel Cleaver
II, and others risked—and sometimes
lost—their lives in the name of freedom and equity.
Today, we have a national holiday
celebrating Dr. Martin Luther
King Jr. because he gave his life for the freedom
and equity of all
humanity in America.
Let us
take a moment, have a bit of fun, and quiz your civil rights history.
1.
The 1955–56
Montgomery bus boycott a protest against segregated
public facilities in Alabama, was led by Dr. Martin Luther
King Jr. and lasted for how many days? 381 days
2.
Dr. Martin Luther King
Jr. realized that the
nonviolent tactics used
by this Indian political and religious leader
was one of the most potent
weapons available to African Americans
in their struggle
for freedom. Who was this Indian
political and religious leader? Mahatma
Gandhi
3.
With the goal of
redeeming “the soul of America”
through nonviolent resistance, this organization was established in 1957, to coordinate the action of local protest
groups throughout the South drawing
on the power and independence of black churches
to support its activities.
What was this organization? Southern Christian
Leadership Conference (SCLC)
4.
During what event
did Martin Luther
King Jr. deliver his famous “I Have
a Dream” speech?
(A) the Selma campaign
(B)
the Birmingham campaign
(C)
the March
on Washington—Correct
(D)
the Montgomery bus boycott
5.
What was a common motto of civil rights activists
in the 1950s and 1960s?
(A) “We Shall Overcome”—Correct
(B)
“Liberty
and Justice for
All”
(C)
“One Nation Under God”
(D)
“Live and Let
Live”
Did anyone get all five correct? Good job!
Today we often take our freedoms
for granted yet in light of
our recent history we may be much more aware of underlying prejudices and fears
that have been festering in the dark around us.[1]
I was
born and raised in Detroit. I have a
vague memory of being in my basement with my parents watching TV as the riots
went on:
"The
1967 Detroit riot, also known as the 12th Street riot, was a violent public
disorder that turned into a civil disturbance in Detroit, Michigan. It began in
the early morning hours of Sunday, July 23, 1967. The precipitating event was a
police raid of an unlicensed, after-hours bar then known as a blind pig, just
north of the corner of 12th Street (today Rosa Parks Boulevard) and Clairmount
Avenue on the city's Near West Side. Police confrontations with patrons and
observers on the street evolved into one of the deadliest and most destructive
riots in the history of the United States, lasting five days and surpassing the
violence and property destruction of Detroit's 1943 race riot.
To help end the disturbance, Governor George
W. Romney ordered the Michigan Army National Guard into Detroit, and President
Lyndon B. Johnson sent in both the 82nd and 101st Airborne Divisions. The
result was 43 dead, 1,189 injured, over 7,200 arrests, and more than 2,000
buildings destroyed. The scale of the riot was surpassed in the United States
only by the 1863 New York City draft riots during the U.S. Civil War,[1] and
the 1992 Los Angeles riots. The riot was prominently featured in the news
media, with live television coverage, extensive newspaper reporting, and
extensive stories in Time and Life magazines. The staff of the Detroit Free
Press won the 1968 Pulitzer Prize for general local reporting for its
coverage.”[2]
It was immediately after the riots that my parents decided to move to
Livonia Michigan. Though I cannot find
proof of it, I believe that African American people were not legally allowed in
Livonia. To this day, it is rates as one of the whitest cities in the United States. Not much to be proud of.
I do not recall my parents being blatantly racist then again they had no
reason to display it. They lived in the whitest city around. I did
not see any people of color growing up except on TV until I entered high school.
In high school I became active in Focus
Hope. “In 1968, Father William Cunningham (1930–1997) and Eleanor Josaitis
(1931-2011) co-founded Focus: HOPE.
Together, they adopted the following mission:
Recognizing the dignity and beauty of
every person, we pledge intelligent and practical action to overcome racism,
poverty and injustice and to build a metropolitan community where all people
may live in freedom, harmony, trust and affection. Black and white, yellow,
brown and red from Detroit and its suburbs of every economic status, national
origin and religious persuasion we join in this covenant. —“[3]
This pledge is still mine today…There
are many emotions surrounding this week, I believe things that were allowed to
fester in the dark are now brought into the light.
We can live to love those in pain, we
can stand with those on the margins, and we can fight so that all may live
equally in the love of God. The all-loving
God….all loving that means the language of us versus them needs to stop!
This means we can fight for what we
believe in without vilifying another part of the America that is us, without
vilifying another part of the world that is us for we…each and every one of us
are beautiful children created in the image of God. Moreover, I believe Dr. King’s vision can
still come to be true.
Dr King did say; “In the process of
gaining our rightful place, we must not be guilty of wrongful deeds. Let us not
seek to satisfy our thirst for freedom by drinking from the cup of bitterness
and hatred. We must forever conduct our struggle on the high plane of dignity
and discipline. We must not allow our creative protest to degenerate into
physical violence. Again and again, we must rise to the majestic heights of
meeting physical force with soul force.” this is just as true today as it was
then. Yes, we can have fun with the late
night comedians and the randy rainbows of the world but we must be cautious.
Do not, I mean we must not allow hatred,
anger, and demeaning language to become our mantra. We must not allow our dialogue to degenerate
into hatred and name-calling. If you are
frustrated Honor Dr. Kings legacy by writing letters. Attending local government meetings. Work in the system. Love your neighbor. Your neighbor, by the way,
is the one you do not understand and do not like what they are doing in
government or what laws they are passing.
I want to say Happy Birthday Dr. King
your legacy shall live on in me and I hope in each one of us.
[1] lia McIntosh, The Abingdon
Press Preaching Annual (tn: abdingdon press, 2016).
[2] wikipedia, 1967 Detroit Riot,
December 18, 2016, accessed January 12, 2017,
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1967_Detroit_riot.
[3] focus hop inc, Focus: HOPE's
Mission Inspires Everything We Do!, 2017, accessed January 12, 2017,
http://www.focushope.edu/page.aspx?content_id=1&content_type=level1.
