On the 75th anniversary of the birth of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and in the year of the 50th anniversary of the Supreme Court decision Brown v. Board of Education and the 40th anniversary of King’s acceptance of the Nobel Peace Prize, hundreds turned out at St. Philip’s in Harlem to celebrate and keep alive the legacy of the man who saw beyond the obstacles of his day and inspired a nation to seek greater justice and peace.

The service in honor of King also celebrated the work of Habitat for Humanity-New York City volunteers who renovated a 10-apartment brownstone across the street from St. Philip’s on 134th Street. Volunteers from civil rights groups, churches and the community refurbished the house in three days, finishing on the Monday of Martin Luther King Day. Everyone involved then gathered for lunch and a service at St. Philip’s, led by the Rev. Canon Cecily Broderick y Guerra, Priest-in-Charge. St. Philip’s was a fitting setting for such a service, as it is the second oldest African-American Episcopal church in the country and its members have always been in the forefront in the struggle for justice.

Each speaker had a personal connection to King and his efforts. U.S. Rep. Charles Rangel, who has been the representative for northern Manhattan for 17 terms in Congress, remembered his difficult journey on foot with King from Selma to Montgomery. He said that he sees it as a great shame that only after their deaths are heroes such as King, Malcolm X and Adam Clayton Powell, Jr., recognized and given tribute.

The presenters all stressed that King’s vision of equality for all people has not been recognized and that everyone must continue his work today.
“I believe we shall overcome,” said David Dinkins, former Mayor of New York City, “but we have not fulfilled that dream yet. The Lord will provide, but we have to do some of the work ourselves.”

Among the many injustices still haunting society today is the lack of affordable housing, Dinkins said.

It is in the spirit of correcting such injustices that Habitat-NYC renovated 10 housing units on the weekend of Martin Luther King’s day of commemoration. The 10 new homes are among the 36 Habitat for Humanity has built in the neighborhood and the more than 150 built throughout the city.

Roland Lewis, Executive Director of Habitat for Humanity-NYC, said, “We are building a temple as Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. instructed us to do.”

Rangel pointed out that the 500 men and women killed and 2,000 injured so far during the war and occupation of Iraq also represent grave injustices.

“There is no connection between Saddam and 9/11,” he said. “I know that Dr. King would have had the courage to stand up as our freedoms are being taken away, as people are being locked up without an attorney, without charges.”

The speakers also all emphasized the need for people to continue working toward King’s goals, for the struggle is not over.

Dinkins mentioned in his remarks the injustices done to Jewish refugees in 1939, Japanese-Americans during World War II and Haitian refugees in the past 20 years. In the face of such inhumanity, “if only more people would simply speak up, more of us would be better off,” he said.

Victoria Jackson Gray Adams, the keynote speaker, stressed the importance of keeping the spirit of the struggle alive today. Adams has been a life-long advocate for civil rights, beginning in the early 1960s, when she taught voter registration and literacy classes. She was one of the three delegates of the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party to the Democratic Presidential Convention in 1964.

“If Martin Luther King’s legacy is to survive and thrive, we must understand, comprehend and commit to wearing the mantle,” she said. “I invite all of you to receive the legacy of non-violence.”

Bronx-Wide King Celebration
Another event in the Diocese for Martin Luther King Day was held at St. Paul’s, Bronx, with Bishop E. Don Taylor, the Rev. Thomas Mercer and the Rev. Timothy Holder. Nearly all of the 23 Bronx parishes were represented at the service.

Holder emphasized the importance of the day in his sermon:
Why do we love Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.? Why do we celebrate him today as prophet, martyr, great preacher, leader, hero, redemptor of the democratic guarantees of these United States and why will we celebrate and love him...100 years from now? Because he and those who stood with him in his brief time brought us home to the love into which God creates every human being.... We know it down deep and Dr. King and the millions unnamed around him were calling all of us home to the love and dignity that God intends for all humanity, at all times, for all people everywhere. We — all of God’s children — are drawn to that love from creation. We are born from that love. And that love is the greatest reality because it is the essence of that which we call “God.” “Not some mere sentimentality,” as Dr. King said it, “but the greatest power ever known.”

 

 

Pictured left to right, top row, the newly refurbished apartment building across from St. Philip's, Manhattan, the Kidz to Kids Choir from the New York Metropolitan Martin Luther King, Jr. Center for Nonviolence and the former Mayor of New York City, David Dinkins. Second row, from left, the Rev. Canon Cecily Broderick y Guerra of St. Philip's, Manhattan; St. John's University Choir Voices of Victory; and Victoria Jackson Gray Adams.

Photos by MARY BETH DISS

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