On what would have been the Rev. Martin Luther King’s 95th birthday, and on the 39th observance of the national holiday named for him, organizations and establishments in every part of the metro Atlanta area gathered to memorialize the legacy of the iconic civil rights leader.
Martin Luther King Jr. Day was celebrated with volunteer opportunities, marches, parades and moments of fellowship.
King’s memory was observed at his spiritual home and former church, Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta, with a four-hour service that included a keynote address from Rev. Shavon Arline-Bradley and remarks from King’s daughter, the Rev. Bernice King, U.S. Sen. Raphael Warnock, who is the church’s pastor, Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens and actor Ben Stiller.
Credit: Ben Gray
Credit: Ben Gray
The Atlanta History Center commemorated the civil rights leader’s legacy through a free event that explored how the church was a significant part of the civil rights movement.
In Stonecrest, the New Black Wall Street Market held celebration for the iconic activist that included an art exhibition and live entertainment. The city of Marietta held a parade in King’s honor.
At Ebenezer, a church service opened at 10 a.m. with a choir’s full-chested belting of “Hallelujah.”
Congregants lent their voices to a violin-led rendition of “Lift Every Voice and Sing.”
Bernice King, who is a lawyer and preacher, delivered an address drawing connections between the current state of the world and the state of the world in 1969 when her father was alive. King asked the congregation why progress seems difficult to find, despite her father’s words and actions being hailed for the past 56 years.
“What have we really done with the numerous words inspired by him,” she queried.
In her address, King noted that at the time of her father’s death, the world was in the midst of the Vietnam War. More than 50 years later, she said, we are witnessing numerous other wars. She said she’s seen little improvement in health care, food security, criminal justice, corporate leadership and political representation.
King said her father provided a manual for shifting the cultural climate with his nonviolent teachings.
“I believe we are in the fight of our life. Our humanity is literally under attack, causing us to come out of our character,” she said.
Dickens and Warnock mirrored her sentiments.
“We will continue to provide tangible solutions and pathways for Atlanta families to regain their footing,” Dickens said, “because we are done with ‘business as usual.”
Warnock told the congregation that people “without vision traffick in division.”
Actor Ben Stiller took the podium during the service and spoke about the importance of solidarity through the example of Joachim Prinz, a German-American rabbi who worked alongside King and spoke at the March on Washington in 1963.
Stiller, who is Jewish, said it is the work of all people “to call out hate of all kinds and to call out those who peddle in that hate.”
“It’s this rising tide of intolerance and prejudice that seems to be everywhere now, this bigotry that’s rooted in ignorance and fear,” he said.
Credit: Ben Gray
Credit: Ben Gray
The service’s keynote address was delivered by Rev. Shavon Arline-Bradley. Arline-Bradley is president and CEO of NCNW and the founding principal and CEO of R.E.A.C.H. Beyond Solutions.
Arline-Bradley’s keynote address focused on the divisiveness that leaves members of the Black community feeling as if they are in “enemy territory.”
“When you see so-called leaders do everything in their power to hide Black people’s history and use Black pawns for their propaganda, spewing lies, lies and more lies, and somehow think that being a slave was good for us, or somehow think the Civil War has nothing to do with slavery, I’m in enemy territory,” she said.
She said while being in “enemy territory” doesn’t feel good, it is necessary, “because that’s where change happens.”
Credit: Ben Gray
Credit: Ben Gray
About the Author
