MySweetCharity just received this report from Monday night’s Martin Luther King Jr. Symposium:
“In the wake of President Obama’s second inauguration, Dallas was celebrating another leader in memory of Martin Luther King Jr. The City Performance Hall was lit up Monday evening at the Dallas Institute’ sophisticated and soulful 8th Annual MLK Symposium with rousing standing ovations for one of King’s good friends and principal lieutenants of the Civil Rights Movement, Ambassador Andrew Young.
“Young, who was with King the day he died and led the Southern Christian Leadership Conference through the tumultuous sixties, had the near-capacity crowd in raptures as he regaled stories about the Civil Rights struggles, King’s vision and his thoughts for the future. Joined on stage by Dallas’ own Rev. Dr. Zan Holmes, TCU’s Dr. Keri Day and the Institute’s Dr. Larry Allums, Young and Holmes offered a realistic viewpoint of King, not the sanitized, sentimentalized version that is so often seen in the present day. Holmes kicked off the evening with memories of King’s visits to Dallas and the shift that took place in the city between 1957 – 1966 as the attitude changed from suspicion and lack of support of King to standing room only applause during his final speech to the Dallas Pastor’s Association in ’66. King invested in Dallas, Holmes said, and this was to be a reminder that whilst he and his team labored by “redeeming the soul of North America”, we are still today benefiting from the fruits of their labor.
“Young touched on the characteristics of King that made his leadership unique. He could condemn sin without condemning the sinner saying “we can’t blame white people for our condition because if we were born white we would behave just like them. Our goal is to work with them to change the situation.” He could listen to people’s anger and rephrase it so they could get back to doing business as brothers. He had a no-fault analysis of the situation and this is what was brilliant about him.
“Reflecting on King’s death, Young told the crowd that King wasn’t afraid of death. After the assassination of JFK, King knew that his days were numbered but his opinion was “Death is not a problem. The hardest thing is what you have to do to get there.” He believed wholeheartedly that if you live for something, you don’t mind giving your life for it. When Young saw King immediately after his assassination he was angry. Not angry at the person who shot him, but angry at King for leaving them at the height of the Movement. How were they going to cope without him? But Young concluded that along with JFK and Bobby Kennedy, King had an influence on this country greater in death than in life. He noted how incredible it was that all of these people come together to reflect on a man who died 45 years ago. His voice is still heard more than any other voice in the world but he urged everyone of the need to keep dreaming as it keeps hope alive. The more we wipe out poverty at the bottom, the bigger the economy grows at top. He ended by saying that he watched the Atlanta Falcons lose the night before, but how thrilled he was to see that half the stadium was black and they were $235 tickets! Cities have become so desegregated that thankfully it now shows up in the ballpark.
“Those that spilled out into the night abuzz with what they had heard included Joel Allison, Councilmember Vonciel Hill, Jeff Morris, John Castle, Veletta Lil, Gail Thomas, Joanne Stroud,
Albert Black, Clyde Henderson, David Griffin, LaQuita Hall, Rex Cumming, Marie Brehm, Betty Regard, Russell Bellamy, Steven Raab, Joseph Mannes, Laura Baldwin, Sharon Harris and Nancy Cain Marcus.”
Photo credit: Kathy King Photography