Columbians mark MLK Day with memorial
The service focused on applying Martin Luther King Jr.'s lessons.
Published Jan. 19, 2010
Although the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. gave his last speech more than 40 years ago, many Columbians feel his message is more applicable than ever.
“The fact of the matter is we are all in the same boat,” United Community Cathedral Bishop Russell Freeman said as he analyzed a quote from King. “We are responsible for the community we live in.”
The memory of King and his message were commemorated Monday night in a candlelight vigil and memorial held at the St. Paul African, Methodist and Episcopal Church in Columbia. About a 150 people attended.
The event, which entered its 38th year, was devoted to honoring King, but the memorial also focused on how his teachings are still relevant.
“Don’t let us put him on a pedestal so that we don’t have to do anything,” the Rev. Maureen Dickmann, of Rock Bridge Christian Church, said in an opening prayer. “Dear Lord, we know that for his dream to come true, we must pick up ourselves and carry on.”
Bill Thompson, a member of the Dr. Martin Luther King Association, said the candlelight procession, which lasted a block, was meant to remind people of King’s mission.
“The march is to let people know that, yes, we have come a long way, but there are still things we need to work on,” he said.
Thompson listed issues, such as equality, health care, the economy and future energy sources, as potential problems that need to be addressed.
Judy Parsons, a retired Columbia teacher who has participated in the march in the past, also said race relations must progress more, but she said a lot has changed since her high school was originally integrated in 1963.
Nathan Stephens, MU Black Culture Center senior coordinator, gave the night’s main speech, and said simply electing a black president did not solve these problems.
“Yes, the blatant racism of Jim Crow is a thing of the past, but it has been replaced with something far more insidious,” he said. “We see people clutching their purses when three black men approach — notice I did not say white women or white people, but all of us are fearful of our youth — that my friends is form of racism.”
Deputy Chancellor Michael Middleton, who was master of ceremonies for the memorial, said MU has to help in solving some of these problems in Columbia.
“The university is a big part of this community, and if we want to see this community be all that it can be, MU has to play a role in that,” Middleton said.
Stephens said applying King’s message would lead to better understanding among each other.
“We must recognize that Martin Luther King’s work was not just for civil rights but for human rights,” Stephens said. “Because if we fail to see the humanity in one another, then we cannot see God in our lives, and that’s where some of our problems come from.”