DuPage celebration to honor Rev. King
The Rev. James Miller has experienced the ugly face of racism firsthand.
When he visited family in South Carolina as a child, he could not sit on the main floor at a movie theater. Segregation at that time forced black people in the state to sit in the balcony, placing them next to “For colored only” concession stands and restrooms.
Years later, a 15-year-old Miller joined other youths in protest at the local church and community center after the April 4, 1968 assassination of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. in Memphis.
So when he arrived at the African Methodist Episcopal Church in Lisle 22 years ago, he was surprised DuPage County did nothing to celebrate the civil rights leader's birthday. Miller changed that, and on Monday the county will commemorate it for the 21st straight year.
“There was nothing for Dr. King,” he said. “This is the only opportunity in our community for all the diverse elements to come together under the banner of peace and harmony. It has had its own value and has perpetuated its own worth because of that simple fact.”
The celebration begins at 6:30 p.m. at Wheaton College's Edman Memorial Chapel, 401 E. Franklin St., Wheaton. The service will include a keynote speech by Vashti Murphy McKenzie, the first female bishop of the African Methodist Episcopal Church.
Miller said her appearance symbolizes the importance of gender in King's dream of cooperation. He said his experiences as a boy were not easy.
“It can really be a psychological and emotionally devastating trauma to live in that,” he said. “People cannot understand it without experiencing it.”
Miller says a new struggle has surfaced in recent years that resembles the hate that Dr. King fought against.
“Although the racial tensions have eased, the political divides have increased,” he said. “The message of peaceful coexistence, change through nonviolence, reasonable dialogue around different opinions of the law, that message is transferrable to today's situation.”
The service usually draws several hundred people of different races to celebrate King's legacy, Miller said. He said King's overall message of unity draws the diverse crowd.
As anger fuels rhetoric on both sides of the political spectrum, Miller said a look at the country's diversity could start things on the right path.
“The simple message of ethics morality and human decency is a place to begin,” he said. “Our culture is more diverse than I think we admit, and we're going to have these problems occur more and more if we don't accept the diversity that exists and don't make the proper adjustments to have these points of common ground. This service begins the year in a way that is peaceful, and reduces levels of stress and anxiety.”
Aside from bringing people from all faiths and races together, the service also raises money for scholarships presented to DuPage County students who best exemplify Dr. King's message of unity. Miller said the church handed out 15 scholarships last year to students of different races nominated by schools across the county.
More than four decades after King's assassination, Miller said his message has been weakened, and the sense of urgency in finding peaceful coexistence has been replaced by a sense of complacency.
“We have gotten to where we are again theologizing and philosophizing to justify division, separation and exclusion,” he said. “There has to be a way to find peaceful coexistence and reasonable interaction among persons so we do not relive the pain of the past. As the anonymous philosopher said, ‘Those who forget their history are doomed to repeat it.'”
If you go
What: 21st annual Martin Luther King Jr. birthday service
Where: Edman Memorial Chapel, Wheaton College, 401 E. Franklin Ave., Wheaton
When: 6:30 p.m. Monday, Jan. 17
Cost: Free