AWC Going Dutch Jan Feb 2021

A Tribute to Dr. Martin Luther
King, Jr.
by Roberta Enschede
This year, there will be no Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Tribute and Dinner for the first
time since January 1986―the year Martin Luther King Day became a national holiday.
Even though we will not be able to “break bread together,” we can think about Dr.
King’s message and what it challenges us to do.
Over the years, many special people have spoken at the Tribute. Their messages are
etched on our memories. There was Gloria Ray Kalmark, one of the Little Rock Nine.
She had a successful career as an engineer, but the memories of Little Rock were always
with her. I remember one day in particular. We were at a gathering at the residence of the
American Ambassador. Several people were standing around the grand piano. Gloria asked
the piano player to play Lift Every Voice and Sing. She listened and started to cry. “I never
thought I’d stand in a place like this and hear that song.” That song, of course, people call
the Negro National Anthem: Lift every voice and sing till heaven and Earth shall ring, ring
with the harmony of liberty.
Every year, Lois Mothershed Pot speaks. Her sister Thelma was also one of the Little
Rock Nine and Lois was the first Black student in her university. She once talked about her
father, a WWII veteran who was an officer in the segregated US Army. He returned from the
war a liberator and hero, but in Little Rock, he was a Black man who had to live with the
indignities of segregation. He allowed his daughter to be one of the Little Rock Nine. She
had to be escorted to Little Rock High by armed soldiers. Like Gloria and the other seven
students, she was ridiculed, spat upon and threatened. There was no place for Black kids
like Thelma and Gloria in white Central High. Think about it. Her Dad was willing to give
his life for the kind of freedom neither he nor his family could have.
When we commemorated the 25th year of the Tribute to Dr. King, we invited a very
special guest from Chicago: Professor Timuel Black. He was one of the organizers of the
1963 March on Washington and is a decorated WWII veteran who landed on Normandy
Beach and was at the liberation of Buchenwald Concentration Camp. He spoke about how
profoundly he was affected by the discrimination he experienced in the US Army and the
human devastation he witnessed at Buchenwald. He resolved to dedicate his life and work
to peace and justice. He celebrated his 102nd birthday on December 7, and he’s still making
speeches, writing books and above all, encouraging and empowering young people to
speak out. In fact, a very young Barack Obama went to him for advice when he first came
to Chicago.
Another speaker at the Tribute was Paul Rusesabagina, the hero of Hotel Rwanda. While
working as the manager of a hotel in Kigali, he hid and protected 1,268 refugees during the
Rwandan genocide. Sadly, he is now a political prisoner in Rwanda.
At the very first Tribute to Dr. King and ever year until his death, Henry Blackmon, the
minister of music at the American Protestant Church came and sang. His glorious voice
and humble nature were an inspiration. “Oh Freedom, oh freedom over me,” he’d sing and
“Keep your hand on the plow, move on.” Henry, too, served in the segregated US Army in
the Battle of the Bulge and around Europe. His answer to segregation was a deep love of
his fellow man that exuded from his soaring voice.
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Each year the Reverend Harcourt Klinefelter also speaks. He worked for Dr. King for
three years, until his death. He can tell stories about him that are not in books. He laughs
and talks about how Mrs. King asked him to stay for dinner one night. He’d been at the
house fixing some electronics and it got late. When Dr. King came home and they sat
down at the table, he said “I don’t feel worthy to sit here with you.” Dr. King answered,
“Harcourt, now do I have to give you a sermon about how all men are created equal?”
Lastly, every year we ask children and young people to speak and share their thoughts
and wisdom:
I learned that human rights aren’t about feeling sympathy. They’re about reaching our
hands out to people who other people have turned their backs on. ~ Emily, 17, Norwegian-
American.
Before the US election, I heard a woman on TV say, “If Obama gets elected, the Blacks
are going to take over the world.” I know Martin Luther King’s fight had to be fought
and has to be fought every day until we are all able to say, “We’re all the same. We’re all
people. We’re like a family”. ~ Olivia, 16, American
Martin Luther King didn’t have a dream, he woke us up from a nightmare. ~ Damian,
15, American
Like Dr. King, I firmly believe that no matter how many ages must pass, peace and
freedom will ultimately prevail. There will be fraternity between nations. ~ Alexander,
17, Swedish
When I was asked to speak, I thought what could I say? I’m white and blue-eyed. I’ve
never experienced racial hate. Then I realized that’s precisely why I should speak. Hate is
not an issue for one race. It is an issue for the human race. ~ Ben, 17, American
You can’t blame other people for what they don’t know and understand, however you
can blame yourself for not trying to make them understand. ~ Warren, 17, Dutch-American
We’re all the same. We just look different. Some people have white faces. Some people
have dark faces and some people have black faces, but that’s not how I choose a friend. I
choose a friend who’s not mean to other kids! ~ Benjamin, 6, American
These young people are now a few years older. They and young people like them
everywhere make us believe and know there is hope for a better, more tolerant tomorrow.
And so, we will remember Dr. King this year even though we cannot “break bread
together.” We will remember, too, Congressman John Lewis, who marched by his side
and was beaten bloody and had his skull cracked on the Edmund Pettis Bridge in Selma,
Alabama. John Lewis kept marching and speaking out and “making good trouble” until the
last days of his life, which ended on July 17, 2020. They called him “the Conscience of the
Congress.” He, like Dr. King, was indeed and will always be the conscience of our nation.
May Martin Luther King Day and every day be a day to be vigilant, a day to speak
out and “make good trouble” until “Justice rolls down like water and righteousness like
a mighty stream.”
Next year, we will be together on the last Sunday evening in January. We will join
hands and sing We Shall Overcome and listen to the words of Dr. King’s Dream.
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