Clapping hands, swaying bodies, tapping feet and voices raised in song.
Jackson County’s 25th annual Martin Luther King Jr. celebration started with song and praise Sunday afternoon, Jan. 18, and ended that way in the evening.
St. Paul’s Baptist Church, Jefferson, was filled with a standing-room-only crowd soon after the Poplar Springs Baptist Church Senior Choir began a mini gospel music concert, and the Rev. R.E. Cooper, presiding officer, welcomed guests with words of exultation.
“Neighbor, we are here to celebrate!” he cried out. “Amen! Amen!”
As always, honoring the late Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Sunday’s program was also held in honor of president-elect Barack Obama, with the Rev. Cooper calling for all on hand to “pray for him, work with him.” An addition to the annual program was a reading of the “Barack Scripture,” a passage taken from the book of Judges and read by the Rev. Annie Dukes.
Commenting on the change ahead for the nation, Jackson County state court solicitor Don Moore read an excerpt from Dr. King’s “Letters from a Birmingham Jail.”
“What kind of extremists will we be? ... for hate ... for love ... for injustice or justice?” Moore read. “Perhaps the nation and the world are in need of extremism,” he added.
Anita Brown-Jackson gave a tribute to Obama, as well, noting that he is “climbing the ladder,” and that his taking the oath as 44th president of the United States will affect “all colors, all cultures.”
‘Change’ The Word Of The Day
Willie E. Burns, mayor of Washington and keynote speaker for the event, also commented on Obama and the “big word” of the day as “change.”
“I hope my African-American sisters and brothers understand what change means,” Burns cautioned. “Since Barack got elected, has change really happened? He’s just one man.”
Burns also noted that Obama’s background — he hails from an African father and a white mother of the Midwest — is different from that of his own family in Washington, GA, where his grandfather was called “boy” by “the other community,” and where his grandmother had “blue eyes and long straight black hair.”
Burns said he isn’t quite clear what his own DNA would reveal — traces of some African country mixed with Native American blood, perhaps, and “my name tells me I’m of Scottish descent ... perhaps that was my plantation owner’s name.”
Still, despite the differences in a man named Willie and one named Barack, Burns said Obama’s election is a sign of change.
“If you’d told me in my lifetime (there’d be a man elected) to look like me, walk like me, talk like me, to be the leader of the most powerful country in the world ...” Burns said. “Change transforms one thing to another. It didn’t happen overnight with Barack’s campaign ... We need to be about God’s business, taking care of one another, it doesn’t matter which color. You cannot preach hate. Martin Luther King was teaching love and kindness.”
Burns, who was to attend Tuesday’s inauguration, said he is excited.
“It’s not a teary moment,” he said. “It’s a joyful moment to me, especially when we look back on where we came from.”
Music And Awards
The highlight of the MLK celebration is the music, from soloists such as Brooks Benton, Mary M. Burley, Clarence (Buck) Kinney, and from the MLK Choir and the Poplar Springs Baptist Church Senior Choir. Kendall Sims and Anthony Gordon provided an organ and drum duet, and Travis Smith and the Mighty Boys of Heaven sang several selections.
Young Garren Walker of Poplar Springs Baptist Church was among the soloists. Barely able to see over the podium as he read a speech about Obama and King, Walker took the microphone in hand and launched into song, his voice and conviction bringing the church to its feet.
After presentation of a number of awards and presentation of a $50 donation to the Jackson County Senior Center, the program concluded with a prayer and singing of “We Shall Overcome.”
