A memory of the day that Dr. King died: Dare to make a difference
It has been 50 years since an assassin's bullet took the life of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. I vividly remember that day. I was a 15-year-old boy in Birmingham, Alabama. I attended a Catholic school, so they rushed us into chapel to pray. My emotions vacillated between fear and hatred. I was fearful of what would happen to the movement in Dr. King's absence, and I felt hatred for any white man who would dare to kill another black leader.
On the eve of the 50th anniversary of Dr. King's assassination, I found myself reflecting on how Dr. King's life and death directly and indirectly affected my life. I was attending Sunday school at St. John Baptist Church when the 16th Street Baptist Church was bombed on Sept. 15, 1963. After we rushed into the sanctuary to pray, we were all rushed home because there was a rumor spreading like wildfire that other bombs had been placed around the city. I wrestled with trying to understand why someone would want to blow me up, in church, just because of the color of my skin. Dr. King's philosophy had already helped me to realize that there was nothing wrong with me; it was the hatred of others.
The power to vote became essential. My mother persisted and attempted to register on six different occasions before being allowed to register on her seventh visit. Consequently, today I have no patience for those who will not vote. Too many black people died in order for all of us to have the right to vote. We cannot afford to take that right for granted. We must vote in every election.
The "Triple Evils," as described by Dr. King, are still quite prevalent in 2018. Those evils are Poverty, Racism and Militarism. Poverty still grips the African American Community. Yes, there have been great strides, but there are still challenges. Unemployment for African Americans is still 2.4 times that of whites. Statistics show that African American college graduates must compete with white high school dropouts in the hiring process. Poverty affects homelessness, hunger, malnutrition and infant mortality. All are still problems in our community.
The second evil is Racism. The climate of the country today is increasingly divisive. The rhetoric of the current Administration is inflammatory and divisive. The efforts to repeal health care for millions of Americans is divisive. The lack of support for immigrants born and living in this country is divisive. The seeming lack of concern for the poor is divisive.
Racism includes prejudice, sexism, homophobia, stereotypes, anti-Semitism and so much more. All of which seem to be on the rise.
The third evil is Militarism. We must all work for peace. The name calling and denigration of other leaders is not necessary nor constructive. We must work with our allies to make the world a better place for all. Other violence such as rape, domestic violence, human trafficking, and child abuse must all be addressed.
My conclusion is "there is much work to be done."
There may never be another single leader like Dr. King; however, we cannot allow that assassin's bullet to smother Dr. King's legacy and dream. The responsibility of leadership falls on each of us.
We must be determined to make a difference in our world. We must be determined to treat our neighbors as we wish to be treated. We must acknowledge that all are created in the image of God. We must uphold our constitution that guarantees rights for all.
As Dr. King once said, citing the poet James Russell Lowell, "Right forever on the scaffold, wrong forever on the throne, Yet that scaffold sways the future. And, behind the dim unknown standeth God within the shadow, keeping watch above his own." We must be those who dare to be different and dare to make a difference.
Long live the dream!
The Rev. Dr. Nathaniel L. Edmond is pastor of the Second Baptist Church of Elgin.