Speaker at Elgin MLK Day event: King's dream no longer 'deferred'

Elgin concluded its two-day celebration of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Sunday.

This time, though, the still vivid memory of Dr. King shared the stage with the vibrant image of President-elect Barack Obama at the ceremony at the Hemmens Cultural Center.

"This is a very special year, because within 48 hours, we're ready to swear in the first African-American to be president of the United States," said the event's master of ceremonies, 16th Judicial Circuit Judge F. Keith Brown.

Throughout the event, Obama's name and sayings, particularly those about Dr. King, were invoked, with the Rev. Kenneth R. Board of Pilgrim Baptist Church in Rockford, peppering his keynote speech with the refrain, "Yes, we can."

This is not to say that there didn't linger a very real sense of what, in the words of poet Langston Hughes, had been "a dream deferred."

Board recalled growing up in Shreveport, La., during the days when bathrooms and movie theaters were segregated.

But the Rev. Nathaniel L. Edmond of Second Baptist Church in Elgin also reminded the audience of the outstanding contributions of black Americans to science, culture, the arts, the military and sports by such outstanding figures as George Washington Carver, Dr. Charles Drew, Paul Robeson, the Tuskegee Airmen and Michael Jordan.

He also noted, "We may struggle with some things politically in Illinois, But out of the six African-Americans who have served in the U.S. Senate, three have been from the great state of Illinois. We do some things right politically in the state of Illinois."

He added, "A part of the dream will be realized on Tuesday." Referring to the passage in Langston Hughes' poem "I, Too, Sing America," which reads, "They send me to eat in the kitchen/When company comes," Edmond said, "On this Tuesday, they won't dare send me to the kitchen to eat. I will be the host of the party."

Among those in the audience was Orlin Campbell of Elgin, who remembered growing up during segregation. Campbell, originally from Tennessee, said,

"I was shielded from it. My grandfather and my father kept me away from that kind of stuff."

Better employment opportunities drew Campbell to the Chicago area - he worked for 35 years for Illinois Tool Works.

Of the election of a black president, he said, "It's just remarkable to have lived this long. I didn't think I would ever live to see something like this."

But Brown, the event's master of ceremonies, reminded the audience that much work remains to be done in realizing the dreams of Dr. King. He noted he is still the only black judge in his circuit.

"That's a shame," he said.