 |
||||||||
 |
||||||||
|
||||||||
|
Dream for King day comes true
By CHASE SQUIRES © St. Petersburg Times, published January 16, 2001 DADE CITY -- The two names invoked most often throughout Monday's Martin Luther King Jr. Day celebration were those of men who could not attend. King, the celebrated civil rights leader, was assassinated in 1968. And the Rev. Eddie Roberts, the man who founded and for years led the east Pasco services honoring King, died this month before he could attend the event he turned into a local tradition. When the two-hour program ended, after joyous hymns and fiery speeches, Roberts' daughter, Elizabeth Abner, was pleased. This year's celebration was just what he would have wanted, she said. "I know he's looking down, smiling," she said. Roberts, who was 75 when he died Jan. 4, oversaw his first Martin Luther King Jr. Day event in 1986 and worked every year afterward with a committee to keep the tradition alive. His daughter said he was always eager to help the event cross racial lines. Having Monday's celebration at the Calvary Assembly of God, a church that is not predominantly black, was something he had been looking forward to. "I remember telling him in December that we were going to have it here," Abner said. "He smiled and said, "Praise God.' " More than 250 people, young and old, black and white, packed into the Assembly of God church to hear speakers, join in hymns and watch interpretive dance performances, all in King's name. Speakers said King's message of racial equality and justice is interwined inextricably with Christian beliefs. The event was attended by at least nine pastors from area churches, and sprinkled with Christian teachings. "Martin was a lover of Jesus Christ," the Rev. Tyrone Wheeler, the keynote speaker, told the crowd. "I know that God did not bring us this far to leave us now." Wheeler also implored parents to pass along King's teachings to their children. And he and others called for all people to continue to fight for equality. Despite advances since King's time, there is much to be done, the pastors said. "Martin Luther King had a dream, and with that dream came a price, a price that, unlike Martin, so many of us are not willing to pay," the Rev. Cassie Gordon said. "If we look at our neighborhoods, that dream is unfulfilled; in fact, it has become a nightmare. . . . It is our responsibility to fix the problems in our neighborhoods, even if we did not bring them there ourselves." The celebration included performances by the Pasco Community Youth Choir, the Saint John Dance Group and a dance performance by Judy Wagner. Speakers included the Revs. Harold Thomas, Eddie Nunn, Wes White and elder Mitchell Davis Jr., as well as Zynara Chapman, Dade City Mayor Scott Black, Zephyrhills City Manager Steve Spina, Yvette Carter, Annie Wheeler, and event coordinator Irene Dobson. Before the event ended, Gordon urged everyone in attendance to go out and make a difference in their communities and to spread the word of equality. "Let us work even harder," she said. "Let us keep pressing toward the mark, to make this dream a reality."
 © 2006 • All Rights Reserved • St. Petersburg Times
490 First Avenue South • St. Petersburg, FL 33701 • 727-893-8111 
|
From today's Pasco Times |
