A moment to honor a civil rights hero brings together blacks and whites sharing a dream and a meal on a cold and rainy day.
By COLLEEN JENKINS
Published January 20, 2004
[Times photo: Stephen Coddington]
Bishop Leonard Smith, pastor of the Fountain of Life Restoration Ministries in Crystal River, speaks to the audience at Copeland Community Park in Crystal River during a Monday afternoon ceremony to honor the life of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
Martin Luther King Jr. Day coverage in today's Times Drawing on art to find the harmony inside us all By MARY JO MELONE Rain clouds were forming overhead, and people were setting up food tables and chairs along the street where the Martin Luther King Jr. parade would later march, when my friend Tony Collins and I entered St. Petersburg's Straub Park. Wake up and spread King's word to children By ERNEST HOOPER Every year, the Tampa Organization of Black Affairs has its annual Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Leadership Breakfast on the King holiday at 6:45 a.m. Breaking bread and barriers By COLLEEN JENKINS A moment to honor a civil rights hero brings together blacks and whites sharing a dream and a meal on a cold and rainy day. Signing up for the dream By TOM ZUCCO As people lined streets to celebrate a champion of equality, volunteers worked the crowd to register them to vote. King's job is still far from done By MOLLY MOORHEAD At a rural church, everyday folks were reminded they need to act on his behalf. Some fear King's message gets lost By MEGAN SCOTT When pressed, some children enjoying festivities and a day off school don't always know who, or why, they are celebrating. Bright hopes under cloudy skies By JARED GOLDBERG-LEOPOLD St. Petersburg's 19th parade shows that residents will turn out to honor King even when the outlook's dreary. Some snub Bush speech at FAMU By Associated Press TALLAHASSEE - About a dozen students walked out Monday before Gov. Jeb Bush gave a Martin Luther King Jr. Day address at historically black Florida A&M University. Pointed calls for peace mark King Day By Associated Press ATLANTA - Americans observed Martin Luther King Jr. Day on Monday with some activists charging that the war in Iraq runs counter to what the civil rights leader stood for.
CRYSTAL RIVER - Martin Luther King Jr.'s dream that the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slaveholders would one day sit together came to life Monday afternoon as Citrus County residents, black and white, gathered to honor the civil rights leader.
About 100 people crowded under the newly painted, concrete shelter at Copeland Community Park to celebrate King's birthday. Braving the driving, cold rain was a small sacrifice to make, many agreed, for a man of such stature.
"This is a day of change," preached Bishop Leonard Smith, pastor of the Fountain of Life Restoration Ministries in Crystal River. "We are products of his dream."
A cappella singing, Scripture, poetry and prayer filled the hourlong ceremony, which was sponsored and organized for the ninth year by the Eveready Club, a community group. The scent of frying catfish brought a sensory promise of the feast ahead.
This year's celebration had added meaning, County Commission Chairman Josh Wooten said, as it marked the first time the county had recognized King's birthday as a holiday for its employees.
"It should have been done a long time ago," Wooten said to hearty applause.
Smith, whose words were more sermon than speech, spoke of the admired Nobel Peace Prize winner as a pioneer, trailblazer and initiator whose voice had become even more powerful in death.
King wanted people to understand that nothing significant could be accomplished without paying a price, Smith said. He noted that King paid the ultimate price when he was assassinated in April 1968.
"If we do not have something we're willing to die for, then our life is without purpose," Smith said, his voice growing louder and more emotional as each moment passed.
"We all are going to face adversity and circumstances that are beyond our control."
"Yes, yes," called out men and women from the crowd, nodding their heads.
But one thing, Smith said, was within each citizen's control: honoring King's legacy of equality and progressiveness every day.
He asked each person to whisper to the next: "Neighbor, I'll go anywhere but backwards."
The event also offered a more tangible way to evoke change in the form of a voter's registration table. Supervisor of Elections Susan Gill encouraged people to sign up and utilize their voting rights.
After the ceremony, a graying man roamed the audience and dragged unexpecting young adults to the registration table.
The Rev. Jimmie Grimsley, who led the celebration, said afterward he hoped the event had helped to arouse awareness among all residents of what King stood for.
"He didn't just stand for black people," Grimsley said.
"He was for everybody, to make things better for all of us. We all need to come together and help each other. A change here can spark a change everywhere."
For at least a moment Monday, such a change seemed possible. Their plates piled high with hush puppies, catfish, coleslaw and baked beans, white and black people sat at damp wooden picnic tables to eat a late lunch.
