Although it is usually customary to pause in a moment of silence to pay respect to the dead, in commemoration of the 40th anniversary of the assassination of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. the voices of the people were loud and clear.
Instead of merely offering reflections on the man who best represented civil rights for the 20th century, his efforts were used as a platform to shout demands to end local injustice and issue a call for community to actively follow the blueprint of King’s ‘Dream’ so that his life – and death – would not be in vain.
“On the day that we remember Dr. King, we do not know that the text for the sermon he was preparing to preach on that Sunday was ‘Why America may go to Hell,’” said the Rev. Starsky Wilson, president of the NAACP at Eden Theological Seminary.
Wilson was one of several preachers who used the pulpit to offer a reality check on behalf of Dr. King last Sunday at a memorial anniversary service presented by the University of Missouri-Columbia at Washington Tabernacle Church.
Guests expecting the traditional King commemorative event where the church hold hands and sings “We Shall Overcome” were surprised. Instead, they challenged to hold themselves accountable – to breathe life into King’s dream through dedication and hard work.
“I would suggest to you if someone says that they loved and were inspired by Dr. King, ask they what they are doing about education,” Wilson said. “You ought to ask them what they are doing for the 29,000 students in the St. Louis Public Schools.”
A proud member of the “hip-hop generation,” Wilson talked about doing a remix of King’s beloved community, a part of King’s dream that included equal justice and racial harmony. He considered the necessary actions to bring it to life 40 years later as “BC ’08,” comparing the journey to racial harmony and social justice to the Israelites and their journey with Moses.
“Forty years later, here we stand outside the walls [of King’s beloved community],” Wilson said. “We have wandered in the wilderness making ourselves out of ourselves in symbolic interacialism – for 40 years outside of the walls.”
Keynote speaker Rev. Dr. Forrest E. Harris Sr. drove home the pointlessness of faith without work.
“We have joined together today for what has become a national consensus – that Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. is one of the most significant prophets of the 20th century,” Harris said.
“Given the social crises of this nation and around the world, the time is right to not only honor Dr. King’s life and legacy but to unearth and live by the truth, justice and non-violent philosophy he died for.”
Harris warned the crowd that the legacy of Dr. King must never be reduced to meaningless rhetoric that does not truly honor him.
He quoted a 1969 poem by Carl Wendell Hines Jr.
“Now that he is safely dead, let us praise him, let us praise him,” Harris recited.
“Let us build monuments to his glory, for dead men make such convenient heroes. They cannot rise and challenge the images we have fashioned from their lives. And besides it is easier to build monuments than make a better world.”
Denouncing Slay in the name of King
On a particularly cold Friday morning outside City Hall, Citizens To Recall Slay seized the opportunity to connect the dots between the works of Dr. King and their current effort to oust Mayor Francis G. Slay based on his racially divisive leadership that led to the demotion of former Fire Chief Sherman George as well as what they consider to be his disregard of the city’s African-American population.
“Slay must go – kick ‘em out,” they shouted as they marched in a circle around the front steps of City Hall.
The small, but fervent crowd was diverse in race, age, gender, religion and overall walks of life as Kalimu Endesha, Zaki Baruti, the Rev. Douglas Parham, the Rev. Michael Vosler and others addressed the crowd with a unified message.
“It is a stain upon this city’s soul,” Vosler said of George’s demotion.
“Martin Luther King once said that an attack against one of us is an attack against all of us,” said state Rep. Jamilah Nasheed.
“And we stand here today to say to the City of St. Louis know that we will not stand by and allow an attack on the city and our great leader Sherman George.”
The treatment of George was far from her only grievance.
“When we look at the St. Louis Public School system, we see an attack on our young children as a result of Slay. When we see Downtown St. Louis being developed while North St. Louis deteriorates, we see an attack on North St. Louis,” Nasheed said.
“We have to believe that Martin Luther King’s dream lives on – the dream of hope and the dream that someday we will be a force to be reckoned with here in the city of St. Louis.”
Parham promised to continue the fight against Slay in George’s name.
Parham said, “People are saying that they will forget about and just let it fall, but they don’t know the resolve that is in your heart.”
