MLK, Lamar Johnson and Eric Schmitt

The legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. is much more than the articles we read and the speeches we listen to now. As we commemorate the legacy of Dr. King, it is important to recognize that he was a voice of courage and dignity. His voice continues to inspire millions upon millions in this country and around the world. 

The idea that all life has dignity is something that lives in not only the hearts of men, but also the heart of every community, yet it is an idea that has not been totally realized. In fact, if we could just grasp that simple point, that all life has dignity, we might do better than so many that have come before us. Every human being ought to have the capacity to earn a living that provides housing and healthcare and opportunities for education. In America, where human beings were turned into capital, tools to be used by other human beings to produce wealth, we see the multi-faceted effect the denial of full participation has in the workplace. 

There are those among us who are wrongfully incarcerated – some for speaking their faith to action, such as Dr. King was, and others who were imprisoned by a system that congratulated overzealous prosecutors and immoral police officers. This is a system where judges were seen wringing their hands and, as it is now, attorneys general rely on procedural limitations and arguments even when innocence is at hand.

Lamar Johnson is one such individual. He has been in jail since 1995, even though prosecutors nationwide say there is evidence of innocence. In the years since his conviction, the only significant witness against him recanted, and two other men confessed that they alone were responsible for the crime. St. Louis prosecutors say the case was marred by perjury and prosecutorial misconduct.

Over a month ago, I met with members of the Organization for Black Struggle, Color of Change, and many others to deliver more than 20,000 signatures on a petition for Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt, asking him to end his opposition to Lamar Johnson’s request for a new trial.

While incarcerated, Johnson, like recently exonerated Ricky Kidd, prepared themselves for the outside world. It is a world they will have the ability to come back and change, and we need them to do it while they still can. 

Ricky Kidd reminds me of freed people who were once enslaved who return to society and embrace the fullness of their humanity and the dignity of all by turning directly to the source of the problem and addressing it wherever they could. When you hear him speak, he speaks not only for himself but for the incredible souls who cannot speak for themselves, for the huddled masses that have been denied justice and relief in the face of injustice. 

Listen to his message, and act for those who still wear the chains and cannot act for themselves: Lamar Johnson – wrongly incarcerated for more than 20 years; Marcellus Williams – an innocent black man on Missouri’s death row; Bobby Bostic – sentenced to 421 years at 16 years old for armed robbery; and the list could go on and on. 

Dr. King was a man of action who put his life on the line for what he believed. If they were one other concept to embrace, it is this: we should, as human beings, with conscience and intellect, decide what we believe in. For people of faith, that will include and must include the dignity of every life, compassion, and forgiveness.

In Dr. King, we commemorate a man who is not only a minister, but also a moral civilian, blending traditions from across the world into a movement that allowed former slaves to better enjoy the privileges of citizenship, even if those rights under the Constitution were still incomplete, violated routinely, and in some cases not respected at all.  

We celebrate Dr. King’s legacy by living courageously in our belief and demonstrating it every day. Join organizations that can support you in this work and support you in living your morality. This could be a first, second, or third step, but we can do more when we face injustices together. 

Nimrod Chapel Jr. is president of the Missouri State Conference of the NAACP.