Samuel Proctor - Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial Service (1992) / Duke Chapel Recordings / Duke Digital Repository

(soothing organ music)

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(organ worship music)

2:24

(soft organ music)

3:53

-

Good evening.

4:41

I'll try that again, good evening!

4:43

Audience

Good evening.

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-

David said, "I was glad when they said unto me,

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"let us go into the house of the Lord."

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I don't know about you, but I'm very glad to be here.

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How many of you are glad to be here this evening?

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I want you to look at the person beside you

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and say, I don't know about you,

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Audience

I don't know about you.

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-

But I'm glad to be here.

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Audience

But I'm glad to be here.

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Now I want you to look at the person on the other side

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and say, I don't know about you,

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Audience

I don't know about you.

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-

But I'm glad to be here.

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-

But I'm glad to be here.

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Let's give the Lord a hand praise for the Lord's goodness.

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(audience applauding)

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Dr. King said, "We must develop and maintain the capacity,

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"the capacity to forgive.

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"He who is devoid of the power to forgive

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"is devoid of the power to love.

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"Believe it or not, there is some good in the worst of us,

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"and some evil in the best of us.

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"When we discover this, we are less prone

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"to hate our enemies."

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Let us stand as we are led to our Call to Remembrance

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by Mrs. Gloria Macauley, let us stand.

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-

Please read responsively with me.

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We come to this service with so many needs and longings.

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We've been many different places

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and conceived many different thoughts.

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(echoey audience speaking)

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And that is why we are here,

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to acknowledge our coexistence

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and admit our need for love.

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(echoey audience speaking)

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[Gloria And Audience] So in the spirit

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of the late Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.,

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we join the continual struggle of love,

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acceptance, and equality of all of God's children.

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-

Please remain standing as we are led in

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our opening hymn, Lift Every Voice and Sing,

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by the Modern Black Mass Choir of Duke University.

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(bright organ music)

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(faint choral singing)

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♪ Sing a song full of the faith ♪

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♪ That the dark past has taught us ♪

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♪ Sing a song full of the hope ♪

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♪ That the present has brought us ♪

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♪ Facing the rising sun ♪

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♪ Of our new day begun ♪

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♪ Let us march on til victory is won ♪

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♪ Lift every voice and sing ♪

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♪ Til Earth and Heaven ring ♪

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♪ Ring with the harmonies ♪

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♪ Of liberty ♪

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♪ Let our rejoicing rise ♪

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♪ High as the listening skies ♪

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♪ Let it resound ♪

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♪ Loud as the rolling sea ♪

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♪ Sing a song full of the faith ♪

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♪ That the dark past has taught us ♪

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♪ Sing a song full of the hope ♪

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♪ That the present has brought us ♪

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♪ Facing the rising sun ♪

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♪ Of our new day begun ♪

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♪ Let us march on ♪

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♪ Til victory is won ♪

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♪ Stony the road we trod ♪

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♪ Bitter the chast'ning rod ♪

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♪ Felt in the days when ♪

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♪ Hope unborn had died ♪

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♪ Yet with a steady beat ♪

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♪ Have not our weary feet ♪

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♪ Come to the place for which our fathers sighed ♪

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♪ We have come over a ways ♪

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♪ That with tears has been watered ♪

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♪ We have come treading our path ♪

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♪ Through the blood of the slaughtered ♪

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♪ Out from the gloomy past ♪

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♪ Till now we stand at last ♪

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♪ Where the white gleam ♪

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♪ Of our bright star is cast ♪

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Let us bow our heads.

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God of our weary years,

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God of our silent tears,

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thou who has brought us thus far,

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thou who has by thy might,

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has led us into the light.

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Keep us forever in thy path we pray.

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O Lord, our God, we stand here

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at the evening of another day.

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We come acknowledging your magnificent glory

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in the world and everything therein.

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And Lord, we come to thank you

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for life, health and strength.

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We thank you for keeping us through

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the many dangers, toils, and snares.

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Dear Lord, we come this evening to commemorate

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the life of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.,

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a life that was sacrificed to ensure

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equality, justice and peace.

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But then Lord, we come at a time when these truths

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are far from the pinnacle of perfection.

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Lord, we come at a time when poverty is in our midst.

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We come at a time when racism is ever increasing.

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We come at a time, Lord, when war seems to be the way.

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We come at a time when crime and drugs

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have infected our communities.

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So with these conditions we ask

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that you make us drum majors.

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We ask that you inspire us to be drum majors,

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to bring love where there is hatred.

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Drum majors to bring light where there is darkness.

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Drum majors to bring peace where there is chaos.

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Lord, we ask that you use us as instruments

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to make sure that we live in a world

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where the lambs can lie down with the lions.

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Help us to go into the world

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where spears shall become pruning hooks,

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swords plow shafts.

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Dear Lord, we ask that you use us until

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every valley is exalted, every mountain be made low,

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all rough places be made plain,

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and the crooked places be made straight.

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We ask that you make us drum majors, Lord,

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until the truth-crushed Earth shall rise again.

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Ask that you use us as you used your son, Dr. King,

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to benefit this world, that there may be

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more peace, more justice, more love.

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Help us Lord, until thine kingdom come,

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thy will be done, on Earth as it is in heaven.

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Amen.

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-

You may be seated.

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(dramatic piano music)

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♪ Our Father ♪

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♪ Which art in Heaven ♪

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♪ Hallowed be thy name ♪

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♪ Thy kingdom come, thy will be done ♪

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♪ On Earth as it is in Heaven ♪

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♪ Give us this day our daily bread ♪

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♪ And forgive us our debts ♪

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♪ As we forgive our debtors ♪

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♪ And lead us not into temptation ♪

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♪ But deliver us from evil ♪

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♪ For thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory ♪

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♪ Forever and ever, amen ♪

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(dramatic piano music)

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And it came to pass that Jesus and his disciples

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were well in the circumstance.

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One of his disciples came to him and said,

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"Lord, teach us to pray."

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And just as Jesus taught his disciples on that day,

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I say to you Duke University (faint speaking).

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When you praise, say...

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♪ Our Father ♪

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Director

Which art in Heaven.

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♪ Which art in Heaven ♪

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Director

Hallowed be thy name.

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♪ Hallowed be thy name ♪

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Director

Thy kingdom come, thy will be done.

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♪ Thy kingdom come, thy will be done ♪

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Director

Thy kingdom come, thy will be done!

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♪ Thy kingdom come ♪

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♪ Thy will be done ♪

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Director

In Earth.

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♪ In Earth ♪

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♪ As ♪

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Director

Is.

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♪ Is ♪

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Director

In.

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♪ In ♪

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Director

Heaven.

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♪ Heaven ♪

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(bright piano music)

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♪ Give us this day ♪

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♪ Our daily bread ♪

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♪ And forgive us our debts ♪

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♪ As we forgive our debtors ♪

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♪ And lead us not into temptations ♪

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♪ But deliver us ♪

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(audience applauding)

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♪ From evils ♪

(director claps)

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♪ For ♪

♪ Thine is the kingdom and the power ♪

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♪ And the glory ♪

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♪ Forever and ever ♪

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♪ And ever and ever ♪

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♪ Amen, amen ♪

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♪ Amen, amen ♪

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Ah.

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♪ Aah ♪

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♪ Men ♪

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(audience applauding)

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(soft piano music)

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Let's give the choir another hand.

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(audience applauding)

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The Modern Black Mass Choir, Duke University.

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When Moses was addressing the recently delivered children

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of Israel, he gave them certain commandments,

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laws, statutes and memorials that they were to

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observe once they entered the Promised Land.

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Further, he knew the importance of sharing

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the legacy of their rich struggle

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that was full of oppression, slavery,

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and all of those less-than-positive

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aspects of their existence.

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He knew that it was important for them to share it

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for those generations that were to come,

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so he thus instructed them in Deuteronomy 7:20,

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he said, "When you sons and daughters ask you

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"in times to come, what is the meaning of the testimonies,

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"and the statutes, and the ordinances

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"to which the Lord our God commanded you?

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"Then you shall say to them, we were feral slaves

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"in Egypt, and the Lord brought us out

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"of Egypt with a mighty hand.

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This, too, is why we are here tonight,

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as a memorial and testimony

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that we, too, as African-Americans

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were once oppressed by the pharaohs

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of legalized discrimination, oppression,

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lynchings, bombings, and other

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dehumanizing acts of violence.

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But God, somebody say But God--

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But God.

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But God used people

such as Dr. King to lead us

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with a mighty weapon of articulate nonviolence,

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so that we too could enjoy equal rights

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and privileges under the law.

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Tonight we remember so that we won't forget

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the life and legacy of our Moses,

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Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., who, with the help of God,

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led us through the Red Seas of the violent 1960s

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so that we could cross over and possess

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our unalienable rights: life, liberty,

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and the pursuit of happiness.

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In the words of Tommy Ni-us,

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"He was a man for our times,

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"like Moses in his day.

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"For God used him mightily to pave a better way,

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"a way of peaceful existence between blacks and whites,

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"and a greater degree of freedom

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"with a respect for human rights.

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"Though it cost him his life, his death was not in vain,

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"for he helped change the course of history.

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"Martin Luther King, Jr. was his name."

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Ladies and gentlemen, our Statement of Purpose.

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-

On behalf of Duke Chapel, I'd like to welcome

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Dr. Proctor, Mayor Rodenhizer, our distinguished guests,

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and all of you who have come to this

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Martin Luther King, Jr. service

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of celebration and commemoration.

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This is a time when we come together

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to affirm our unity in diversity.

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It is a time when we remember Dr. King, and his dream

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of freedom, justice, and equality for all people.

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It is a time when we come together to celebrate gains,

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acknowledge losses, and recommit ourselves

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to creating more just and humane communities.

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Having heard Dr. Proctor speak this morning,

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I know that each of us will leave this place

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inspired, renewed, and challenged to act in ways

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that promote the dignity and worth of all God's children.

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-

It's my great pleasure to welcome all of you

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on behalf of the Duke University Medical Center.

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This is a very special occasion for all of us,

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because Martin Luther King, Jr. was a happening

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in the history of this country,

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in fact, a happening in the history of this world.

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Perhaps even more important than his accomplishments,

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which are many, are the principles he stood for,

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and I think the interesting thing about this man is that,

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everybody will state these somewhat differently, but,

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to me, there are three things I always think of.

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One is his compassion for mankind.

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I think this compassion is

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somewhat lacking in our modern civilization,

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but it's a quality that we would all

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like to see furthered more.

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Second are the ideals and vision

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which he held for this country,

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because these ideals and visions are as fresh today

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as they were when they were stated.

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And finally, perhaps the thing I admired most in him

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was the fact that he persisted

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and pursued these goals in a peaceful way.

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And I only wish that the rest of the world

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would take a lesson from this example and do the same thing.

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As we commemorate the life and the accomplishments

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of Martin Luther King, Jr., I hope that all of us

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will look inward and reflect ourselves

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and think about what we can do

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to forward these principles that he stands for.

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The world will be a better place

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if we all will do something

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by ourselves, on our own,

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to see that these goals are furthered.

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Welcome to all of you, and best wishes

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for a very fulfilling evening.

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-

It is with a great deal of pleasure that I

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welcome you here this evening on behalf

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of the citizens of Durham.

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Sometimes I, perhaps, have a feeling of inadequacy

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when we seek to honor someone of such stature as Dr. King.

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I thought it would perhaps be appropriate

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for me to read a resolution,

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or proclamation actually, that we have prepared.

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Unfortunately, these things don't get

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the attention they once did a few years back when,

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perhaps, not quite as many of them,

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but I thought it would be appropriate

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in light for me to read this one.

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Whereas, in 1985, the Congress of the United States

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declared the third Monday in January

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as a legal holiday, honoring Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

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And whereas, according to the Act,

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the holiday shall serve as a time for Americans

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to reflect on the principles of racial equality,

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and nonviolent social change

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espoused by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

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And whereas, in 1964, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

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was recognized for his efforts

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to bring peaceful change to America.

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He received the Nobel Peace Prize,

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becoming at age 35 the youngest person thus honored.

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And whereas, early in 1968, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

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announced a poor peoples' campaign

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to be held in Washington, D.C.

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to dramatize the plight of Americans, poor of all races,

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but was shot and killed by an assassin, April 4, 1968,

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in Memphis, Tennessee, while planning

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to lead a demonstration of striking sanitation workers.

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And whereas, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

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dedicated his life to advancing the goals of freedom,

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equality, and social justice.

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And whereas Dr. King enunciated a principle

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from which he never wavered:

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We will not resort to violence.

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We will not degrade ourselves with hatred.

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Love will be returned for hate.

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And whereas the Durham City Council declared

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the third Monday of January as a city holiday

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on April 17, 1984.

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Now therefore, I, Harry Rodenhizer,

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mayor of the city of Durham,

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do hereby proclaim Monday, January 20th, 1992,

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as Martin Luther King, Jr. Day in the city of Durham,

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and commend this observance to our citizens.

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May each of us work toward the dream that Dr. King

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dedicated his life for:

29:13

equality in each area of life for all races.

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Witnessed by hand and the corporate city seal

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of the city of Durham, this 13th day,

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well actually, now it's the 19th day of January, 1992.

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Thank you for the privilege of being with you this evening.

29:30

(audience applauding)

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-

At this time, we'll have our Scripture reading

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by the Reverend Trevon Gross,

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associate minister St. Joseph's AME Church,

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and following that, we'll have musical selections by Style.

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We're gonna ask that the members of Style

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would move forward at this time.

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Reverend Gross.

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-

Our Scripture lesson tonight comes from

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the Book of 1 John, the fourth chapter,

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verses 13 through 21.

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By this we know that we abide in him and he in us,

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because he has given us of his spirit.

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And we have seen and do testify

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that the Father has sent his son

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as the savior of the world.

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God abides in those who confess

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that Jesus is the son of God,

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and they abide in God.

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So we have known and believed the love that God has for us.

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God is love, and those who abide in love

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abide in God, and God abides in them.

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Love has been perfected among us in this,

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that we may have boldness on the Day of Judgment,

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because as he is, so are we in this world.

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There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear,

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for fear has to do with punishment,

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and whoever fears has not reached perfection in love.

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We love because he first loved us.

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Those who say I love God and hate their brothers or sisters

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are liars, for those that do not love a brother or sister

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whom they have seen cannot love God

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whom they have not seen.

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The commandment we have from him is this:

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those who love God must love

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their brothers and sisters also.

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Amen.

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-

At this time, we would ask that

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the Modern Black Mass Choir will come

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and give us a selection at this time.

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Let's give them a hand as they come.

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(audience applauding)

31:57

(bright piano music)

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-

How many of you know that Jesus is real?

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How many of you really know that Jesus is real?

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(audience applauding)

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You can put your hands together if you desire.

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If you desire to stand up you may,

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if you wanna shout, all those things

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are permissible in the House of God.

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Sing with us.

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(rhythmic clapping)

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♪ Jesus is real ♪

33:13

♪ Jesus is real ♪

♪ Hey ♪

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♪ I know the Lord is real to me ♪

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♪ I'm telling the truth ♪

33:21

♪ I know that he's real ♪

33:23

♪ Jesus is real ♪

33:25

♪ Really really, real ♪

♪ I know the Lord is real to me ♪

33:27

♪ I'm telling the truth ♪

33:31

♪ I know that he's real ♪

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♪ Sometime when I'm feelin' low ♪

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♪ Nowhere to go ♪

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♪ Jesus come along and ♪

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♪ Makes me so ♪

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♪ No, no, no, no, no, no ♪

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♪ Oh ♪

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♪ Jesus is real ♪

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♪ Hey, Jesus is so real ♪

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♪ He's real, oh ♪

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♪ I know the Lord is real ♪

♪ To me ♪

34:02

♪ I'm telling the truth ♪

♪ I know that he's real ♪

34:04

♪ Jesus is real ♪

34:08

♪ He's real ♪

♪ Hey ♪

34:09

♪ The Lord is real to me ♪

34:11

♪ I'm telling the truth ♪

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♪ This one thing I know ♪

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♪ Sometime when I'm feelin' down ♪

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♪ No one around ♪

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♪ Jesus is a friend I have found ♪

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♪ Lord I know ♪

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♪ Oh, no, no, no, no ♪

♪ Jesus is real ♪

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♪ Oh ♪

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♪ I can feel him in my hand ♪

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♪ I can feel him in my hand ♪

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♪ In my feet ♪

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♪ Feel him in my feet ♪

♪ From the crown of my head, the crown of my ♪

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♪ To the sole of my feet ♪

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♪ For I know ♪

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♪ Oh ♪

34:51

♪ Hey ♪

♪ Jesus is real ♪

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♪ Oh, tell you there's one thing ♪

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♪ That I know, I can feel him ♪

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♪ Feel him in my heart ♪

35:00

♪ Oh ♪

35:02

♪ Feel him in my soul ♪

♪ I can even feel him moving over me ♪

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♪ For I know ♪

35:09

♪ Oh, no, no, no, no, no ♪

♪ Oh, no, no, no ♪

35:13

♪ Jesus is real ♪

35:15

♪ This one thing I say ♪

35:18

♪ He's real ♪

35:20

♪ Real ♪

♪ He's real ♪

35:23

♪ Real ♪

♪ He's real ♪

35:26

♪ Real ♪

♪ Oh yes, he's real ♪

35:28

♪ Yes, he's real ♪

♪ I know he is ♪

35:31

♪ I know he is ♪

35:33

♪ I know he is ♪

♪ I know that he is ♪

35:35

♪ Oh yes, he's real ♪

35:38

♪ Yes, he's real ♪

♪ I say, yeah yeah ♪

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♪ Yeah ♪

♪ Say yeah, yeah ♪

35:44

♪ Yeah ♪

♪ Say yeah y-yeah ♪

35:46

♪ Yeah ♪

♪ Oh yes, he's real ♪

35:48

♪ Yes, he's real ♪

♪ I know he is ♪

35:51

♪ I know he is ♪

35:53

♪ My mama told me that he is ♪

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♪ Oh yes, he's real ♪

35:58

♪ Yes, he's real ♪

♪ I say, yeah, yeah ♪

36:01

♪ Yeah ♪

♪ Say yeah, yeah ♪

36:04

♪ Yeah ♪

♪ Say yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah ♪

36:07

♪ Yeah ♪

36:08

♪ Yes, he's real ♪

♪ I know he is ♪

36:11

♪ I know he is ♪

36:14

♪ I know he is ♪

♪ I really know that he is ♪

36:17

♪ I know he is ♪

♪ For I know ♪

36:21

♪ I know that I know ♪

♪ Oh ♪

36:24

♪ For I know ♪

36:26

♪ I really know, I really know ♪

♪ Yes I do ♪

36:29

♪ For I know ♪

36:31

♪ I know that I know ♪

♪ Oh ♪

36:34

♪ Jesus is real ♪

36:36

-

How many of you know he's real?

36:40

♪ I said he's real ♪

36:41

♪ He's real ♪

36:43

♪ The Lord is ♪

♪ The Lord is so real ♪

36:45

♪ He's so real ♪

36:47

♪ He's real ♪

♪ Yes, he is ♪

36:49

♪ The Lord is so real ♪

♪ He walks with me ♪

36:52

♪ He's real ♪

36:53

♪ I ♪

♪ He's real ♪

36:56

♪ I know he's real ♪

♪ He's real ♪

36:59

♪ I know he's real ♪

♪ He's real ♪

37:01

♪ He tells me that he loves me ♪

♪ He's real ♪

37:03

♪ I-I-I-I-I-I ♪

♪ He's real ♪

37:06

♪ I know he's real ♪

♪ He's real ♪

37:08

♪ He's so real ♪

♪ He's real ♪

37:11

♪ He walks with me ♪

♪ He's real ♪

37:14

♪ He talk with me ♪

♪ He's real ♪

37:16

♪ He tells me that he loves me ♪

♪ He's real ♪

37:18

♪ I know he's real ♪

♪ He's real ♪

37:21

♪ He's so real ♪

♪ He's real ♪

37:23

♪ He's so real ♪

♪ He's real ♪

37:26

♪ I feel it in my hands ♪

♪ He's real ♪

37:28

♪ I feel it in my feet ♪

♪ He's real ♪

37:31

♪ He's so real ♪

♪ He's real ♪

37:33

♪ I know he's real ♪

♪ He's real ♪

37:36

♪ For I know ♪

37:38

♪ For I know ♪

♪ I know that I now know ♪

37:40

♪ For I know ♪

37:42

♪ Yes, I do ♪

♪ For I know ♪

37:44

♪ I really know, I really know ♪

♪ For I know ♪

37:49

♪ Can't nobody tell me like him ♪

37:51

♪ Can't nobody hold me like him ♪

37:53

♪ Can't nobody love me like him ♪

37:55

♪ Hey ♪

37:58

♪ For I know ♪

38:00

♪ I know that I now know ♪

♪ Oh ♪

38:02

♪ Yes, I do ♪

♪ Jesus is real ♪

38:04

(audience applauding)

38:07

♪ He's real ♪

38:17

♪ Oh yes, he's real ♪

38:19

♪ I know he is ♪

38:21

♪ I know he is ♪

38:24

♪ I know he is ♪

♪ I know that he is ♪

38:26

♪ I know he is ♪

♪ Oh yes, he's real ♪

38:29

♪ Oh yes, he's real ♪

♪ Say yes ♪

38:32

♪ Yeah ♪

♪ Say yes ♪

38:34

♪ Yeah ♪

♪ Say yes ♪

38:37

♪ Yeah ♪

♪ Oh yes, he's real ♪

38:40

Let's give the choir another hand.

38:49

(audience applauding)

38:51

Now I have a question to ask you.

39:00

I know that we're moving on

39:01

and we're moving on with the order of worship,

39:03

but how many of you really came here to enjoy Jesus tonight?

39:04

(audience applauding)

39:08

Now I know you didn't come to look at me,

39:13

and you didn't come to look at Dr. Proctor for so long

39:14

'cause you came to hear him.

39:17

Now let's have church tonight, and let's enjoy Jesus.

39:19

At this time, we will have Malkia Lydia

39:22

who will come up and introduce our student speakers

39:24

speaking about making the dream a reality.

39:27

Malkia Lydia, president of the Black Student Alliance

39:29

of Duke University, let's give her a hand as she comes.

39:33

(audience applauding)

39:35

-

Good evening.

39:41

-

Good evening.

-

Tonight I have the honor of introducing

39:44

two very special students, student leaders

39:47

in the Duke community,

39:50

They're special not only because of their activities,

39:52

but I speak of them as being special to me,

39:54

two people I'm very close to.

39:57

The first person is Ms. Tonya Terrell Robinson,

39:59

a 21-year-old native of Durham, North Carolina.

40:03

As a matter of fact, she graduated from Hillside High School

40:06

with honors in 1988.

40:09

And I'm sure she'll be doing the same

40:10

when she graduates from here this May of 1992.

40:12

She's a senior public policy major

40:15

who is also pursuing her certificate in Women's Studies,

40:18

and, as you all know, she is president

40:22

of the Associated Students of Duke University,

40:24

our student government association,

40:26

and she's a member of Delta Sigma Theta

40:28

Sorority, Incorporated.

40:31

Tonya describes herself as a woman in the making,

40:33

because she is not yet at the point she hopes to be,

40:37

at her point of self-actualization.

40:40

I hope you all join me in welcoming Tonya Robinson

40:43

as she explains to us how to make the dream a reality.

40:46

(audience applauding)

40:49

-

"Something is happening in our world.

41:04

"The masses of people are rising up,

41:10

"and wherever they are assembled today,

41:15

"the cry is always the same:

41:20

"We want to be free.

41:24

"Something is happening in our world,

41:28

"the masses of people are rising up,

41:30

"and wherever they are assembled today,

41:32

"the cry is always the same:

41:35

"We want to be free."

41:39

These are the words of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.,

41:43

and they are as true today as they were then.

41:48

Something is happening in our world.

41:54

People in the Soviet Union and South Africa,

41:57

people around the globe are standing up

42:01

and others are beginning to take note.

42:05

I ask you, my fellow Americans,

42:09

my fellow citizens of Durham,

42:12

where are we?

42:15

In Liberia, men and women are fighting

42:20

for their basic civil rights.

42:22

In Haiti, they are dying en route to the voting box.

42:26

Where are we?

42:31

Have we begun to rest on our laurels?

42:34

Do we no longer have battles to fight?

42:38

Many say our country is advanced.

42:43

We crossed those paths before

42:47

and left them behind us; maybe so.

42:49

Others say we are a model of democracy; perhaps.

42:56

Regardless, our progress does not entitle us

43:05

to stop along the way and rest awhile.

43:09

We've done too little, and there's too much ahead of us.

43:12

29 years ago, a great American who we commemorate

43:18

and celebrate today, stood with over 200,000 people

43:22

by the Reflecting Pool of the Lincoln Memorial.

43:27

It was a march on Washington for jobs and freedom.

43:31

For millions of people, Dr. King was and continues to be

43:36

the epitome of faith, persistence, dedication,

43:41

and most importantly, hope for a new and better tomorrow.

43:46

But yet we find ourselves entering a 1992

43:52

where a vast number of our people

43:57

still live in deep poverty,

43:59

where every student does not have

44:02

an equal opportunity of education,

44:04

and many of those who do are not

44:07

equipped to take advantage of it.

44:09

A 1992 where hundreds of thousands of our men and women

44:13

are still struggling to recuperate

44:17

from the conflict in the Middle East.

44:20

I have presented to you a reality,

44:24

a sad but certain reality that depicts

44:27

the state of life for many Americans.

44:31

And so while we may be a progressive nation,

44:35

we have miles to go before we sleep.

44:38

In the words of Dr. King, as he stood

44:44

at the foot of the Lincoln Memorial that day,

44:46

"I say to you today my friends,

44:50

"that in spite of the difficulties and frustrations

44:54

"of the moment, I still have a dream.

44:56

"It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream.

45:02

"I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up,

45:07

"and live out the true meaning of it's creed,

45:11

"We hold these truths to be self-evident,

45:14

"that all people, men and women, are created equal.

45:17

"I have a dream today that this is our hope."

45:23

That was August 28th, 1963.

45:30

A few years later, April 4th, 1968,

45:35

Martin Luther King, Jr. would be killed

45:39

by an assassin's bullet; dead.

45:41

The civil rights leader, the Nobel Laureate,

45:47

the voice for so many people, dead.

45:52

It shook the nation, the world.

45:59

And now, in 1992, I stand before you

46:06

and reflect and wonder.

46:10

You ask, do the young people of today remember?

46:15

No.

46:21

With 21 years behind me, I do not remember,

46:24

but I know.

46:29

I wasn't there that August day at the foot

46:32

of the Lincoln Memorial to hear his stirring plea

46:34

for racial equality and justice,

46:36

to feel the excitement, to see his greatness.

46:40

But I know.

46:46

I know that in my blackness, there are years

46:49

of backbreaking toil in the fields

46:53

of Southern plantation owners.

46:56

There are the horrors of living in

46:59

the rodent-infested ghettos of the North.

47:01

There are the tears of small black children

47:05

who do not understand why some people call them nigger.

47:09

My blackness reflects generations of mothers

47:15

who fight to keep the fabric of the black family

47:18

from splitting at its seams.

47:21

It reflects the confusion of my black brothers,

47:26

who cannot seem to find their place.

47:30

My color mirrors the victories in Montgomery,

47:35

and Greensboro, and Albany, and Birmingham,

47:39

and so many other cities across this nation,

47:44

where inroads have been made.

47:47

Inroads toward freeing not only

47:51

the black race but humanity.

47:53

My black color triumphantly echoes the words

47:58

of Langston Hughes, and Phillis Wheatley,

48:01

and Shirley Chisholm, and Malcolm X,

48:04

and Martin Luther King, Jr., and so many others

48:07

who have so eloquently verbalized

48:11

the plight of black people.

48:12

All of this is embedded in the color of my skin,

48:17

and I am proud that we have survived the unsurvivable,

48:21

spoken the unspeakable,

48:27

and continue to march on.

48:30

You wonder, how far have we come?

48:35

Where must we go?

48:39

Can our young people lead the way?

48:43

Do they know the direction?

48:47

Is the dream still alive?

48:50

Will they carry the torch?

48:54

My greatest hope is that my presence here this evening

48:58

will serve as an assurance that hope still survives.

49:02

It has weathered the storm

49:06

and continues to guide our way.

49:09

However, there are, my friends, no guarantees.

49:14

And so while we stop this evening and this week

49:21

to pay tribute to Dr. King and the hundreds of others

49:26

who have so eloquently verbalized and so passionately fought

49:29

for the freedom of the oppressed,

49:33

I submit my personal wish,

49:37

for peace abroad and justice at home.

49:41

Something is happening in our world.

49:49

The masses of people are rising up,

49:53

and wherever they are assembled today,

49:57

the cry is always the same:

50:02

we want to be free.

50:08

Happy birthday, Dr. King.

50:12

(audience applauding)

50:14

-

I'm sorry.

50:48

Okay, thank you, Tonya, for those words of wisdom and,

50:50

I'm sorry, you all.

50:55

As I stated before, the two people that

50:56

I'm introducing tonight are people

50:58

who are special to me, and who are special

51:00

to our community as well.

51:02

Tonya Robinson is president of our student government,

51:05

and our next speaker, Mr. Timothy Terrell West,

51:09

is the incoming president of our Duke University

51:13

Black Student Alliance.

51:15

And, if you're not already convinced,

51:17

I'm sure you will be by the evening's end that

51:19

Duke University is headed in some very positive directions

51:22

with these two folks at the heads of

51:25

some of our most powerful organizations on campus.

51:27

Mr. West is 19, he's from Taylor, Arkansas.

51:30

He's a sophomore majoring in philosophy and psychology.

51:34

He's also a member of Karamu, Duke's theater

51:38

of the black experience, the Modern Black Mass Choir,

51:42

and he describes himself as focused.

51:46

He says he sets his goals and objectives,

51:49

and works diligently to ensure that they are actualized.

51:52

Let's welcome Timothy West.

51:55

(audience applauding)

51:57

-

Good evening.

52:07

-

Good evening.

-

It is indeed an honor as well as a privilege

52:10

to have the opportunity to speak before you

52:12

on this special occasion,

52:15

in honoring and celebrating the life of

52:17

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

52:19

In thinking about Dr. King's life,

52:22

his struggles and what they mean to me,

52:25

I am most often directed to reflect on his speech

52:28

entitled I Have a Dream.

52:30

His words touched the lives of all who listened

52:33

diligently to him before the Lincoln Memorial

52:36

on August the 28th, in 1963.

52:39

I am directed also to an earlier time

52:43

when his responses to the cries of Rosa Parks

52:45

sparked one of the greatest movements

52:48

our world has ever seen.

52:50

There had to be some divine inspiration

52:54

that gave Dr. King the strength

52:56

to promote love and brotherhood,

52:58

at a time when Civil Rights leaders

53:00

were being assassinated systematically.

53:02

College students were murdered and secretly buried.

53:04

Peaceful demonstrators were harassed by policemen

53:08

with their fire hoses and German Shepherd dogs.

53:11

A time when little children were victims of bombings

53:14

in Southern black churches,

53:17

and when even his own home was bombed

53:19

and his family threatened.

53:22

In the midst of all these tragic events,

53:25

King found enough love to endure the trials of his time.

53:27

Enough love to share with everyone

53:31

with hopes that our world would become

53:33

a better place for all humankind.

53:35

When I reflect on the life of Dr. King,

53:39

I am reminded of a man who preached brotherhood

53:41

and universal love, spending many days and nights in jail,

53:44

because he chose to walk with the underprivileged

53:48

and abused and to love his oppressors.

53:51

When I think of Dr. King, I can't help wondering about

53:55

the world we live in, and particularly why,

53:58

in spite of all the progress made because of his fight,

54:02

there are still persons who are judgmental of other people

54:06

of different races, ethnic groups,

54:09

and socioeconomic backgrounds.

54:12

I recall a time in high school being very active in

54:15

dream research, and many of the things that I learned then

54:17

are applicable in talking about King's dream today.

54:21

I learned that in all dreams there exists two components:

54:24

the first is a reality component,

54:29

and the other part is that portion of a dream

54:32

that is idealistic and imaginative.

54:34

It encompasses those things that aren't necessarily real,

54:38

but those things we hope for and have faith in.

54:42

Those things we foresee.

54:46

In King's dream he was able to see the reality of his time,

54:48

able to see a world were judged by the colors of their skin

54:52

instead of the content of their character.

54:56

He was able to see a land where little black boys

54:58

and little black girls weren't able to join hands

55:01

with little white boys and little white girls.

55:03

But King was also able to foresee a time

55:07

when whites and blacks would drink

55:09

from the same water fountains.

55:11

He was able to imagine black children

55:13

and white children being educated in the same schools.

55:15

He was able to envision a time

55:18

when blacks could walk through their neighborhoods without

55:20

being terrorized by burning crosses and white sheets.

55:23

And it is true, much of King's dream has become reality,

55:28

and only because there were others

55:32

who shared this dream with him.

55:34

I would challenge anyone who would suggest that

55:36

King's dream was rare, original or unique.

55:39

In fact, I am quite sure that at the moment

55:43

King was dreaming, that there were others

55:45

in China, Cambodia, South Africa,

55:48

in Harlem and in Mississippi who were dreaming

55:51

of freedom, equality, and love toward all humankind.

55:54

The Bible refers to a time when prophets

55:59

would lead the Israelites who were in bondage

56:01

out of the land of Egypt into the Promised Land.

56:04

I am reminded of a scripture in Job,

56:08

the second chapter, 28th and 29th verses, which says:

56:10

I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh,

56:13

and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy.

56:17

Your old men shall dream dreams,

56:19

your young men shall see visions.

56:22

And also upon the servants and upon the handmaids

56:25

in those days will I pour out my spirit.

56:27

Many have said that King's dream was one

56:31

which woke up the the world, and perhaps this is true.

56:34

But maybe it is true because others who had that same dream

56:37

were so oppressed, downtrodden,

56:41

subjugated and dehumanized that they felt

56:44

articulating their dreams would be useless,

56:47

that their dreams would be undermined,

56:50

or considered fairy-tale-ish or fantasy-like.

56:53

I can remember many dreams when,

56:57

before reaching a conclusion, I would awaken,

56:59

and it is this component of my own dreams

57:01

which causes me to question, what King's dream

57:04

might have consisted of had it continued?

57:06

Might he have foreseen those things I dream today?

57:11

Might he have envisioned a world

57:14

where there were no homeless, no police brutality,

57:16

where there would be equal and unbiased education for all,

57:20

and true equality under the law?

57:23

Where in the streets of South-Central Los Angeles,

57:25

young men could experience a safe trip home,

57:29

whether they happen to be wearing blue or red.

57:32

Might King have envisioned a world where racial separation

57:35

is not hidden behind a veil of what appears to be

57:39

desegregation or integration?

57:42

Well, I too have dreams, dreams of brotherhood,

57:46

true equality, and love for humankind.

57:48

I am certain that in this very room

57:52

there are persons who have those same dreams,

57:54

that even as I speak, there are people

57:56

in far away places who dream of a time of peace,

57:59

and a time when all have food, shelter and dignity.

58:02

My dream to some might seem childlike and idealistic.

58:07

However, I believe that there are persons

58:11

who are willing to work to maximize

58:13

the reality of their dreams,

58:16

those which consist of love for humankind.

58:18

Dr. King once said, "We've come a long way,

58:22

"but we still got a long, long way to go.

58:24

"If you can't run, walk.

58:29

"If you can't walk, crawl, but by all means, keep moving."

58:31

When we suggest that King's dream has been made a reality,

58:38

we undermine those principles on which his leadership

58:41

and purpose was founded.

58:44

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s stride toward freedom

58:47

is one which is meant to continue

58:50

as long as there is inequality and oppression among us.

58:53

Thank you.

58:58

(audience applauding)

58:59

-

A special word of thank you to our student speakers,

59:19

Miss Tonya Terrell Robinson, Mr. Tim M. West.

59:22

At this time, we'll be fed with a final selections

59:26

from the Modern Black Mass Choir,

59:28

followed by introduction of our keynote speaker,

59:31

and then the musical selection, Precious Lord,

59:33

by Mrs. Becky Mc-cat; choir.

59:36

(gentle piano music)

1:00:08

♪ Lord I hear ♪

1:00:41

♪ Of showers of blessings ♪

1:00:45

♪ Thou art scattering full and free ♪

1:00:50

♪ Showers the thirsty souls refreshing ♪

1:00:59

♪ Let some drops now fall on me ♪

1:01:09

♪ Lord, I hear ♪

1:01:22

♪ Of showers ♪

1:01:28

♪ Of blessings ♪

1:01:35

♪ That ♪

1:01:38

♪ Thou art scattering ♪

1:01:43

♪ Full and free ♪

1:01:47

♪ Showers the thirsty souls ♪

1:01:53

♪ Refreshing ♪

1:02:04

♪ Let some drops now fall on me ♪

1:02:08

♪ Even me, Lord ♪

1:02:18

♪ Even me ♪

1:02:32

(director claps)

1:02:46

♪ Even me, Lord ♪

1:02:51

♪ Let some drops now fall on me ♪

1:02:55

♪ Even me, Lord ♪

1:03:06

♪ Even ♪

1:03:22

♪ Me ♪

1:03:36

(director claps)

1:03:40

♪ Even me, Lord ♪

1:03:46

♪ Let some drops now fall ♪

1:03:50

♪ Let some drops now fall ♪

1:03:54

♪ Let some drops now fall ♪

1:03:57

♪ Let some drops now fall ♪

1:04:01

♪ On me ♪

1:04:05

♪ Lord ♪

1:04:11

♪ On me ♪

1:04:15

(audience applauding)

1:04:22

-

I'm sure that as Dr. King

1:04:31

sat there thinking about

1:04:34

the task before him,

1:04:35

I believe he thought of an old song,

1:04:40

and the words of those songs go, trouble in my way,

1:04:42

I have to cry sometimes.

1:04:46

I lay awake at night, but that's alright because I know

1:04:49

that, by and by, Jesus will fix it.

1:04:53

♪ I gave up everything to follow him ♪

1:04:56

♪ Now my life is not so dim ♪

1:05:01

♪ I gave up everything to follow him ♪

1:05:05

♪ Now he is my best friend ♪

1:05:10

♪ I gave up everything to follow him ♪

1:05:14

♪ Now my life is not so dim ♪

1:05:19

♪ I gave up everything to follow him ♪

1:05:23

♪ Now he is my best friend ♪

1:05:28

♪ And my mind is made ♪

1:05:32

♪ Made up ♪

♪ And I'm on my way ♪

1:05:36

♪ Way up ♪

♪ I got to hold my head up ♪

1:05:40

♪ Head up ♪

♪ I'm going home ♪

1:05:43

♪ To live with the Lord ♪

1:05:45

♪ Yeah ♪

1:05:46

♪ Live with the Lord ♪

♪ I gave up everything to follow him ♪

1:05:48

♪ Yes, now my life is not so dim ♪

1:05:52

♪ I gave up everything to follow him ♪

1:05:57

♪ Now he's my best friend ♪

1:06:01

♪ I gave up everything to follow him ♪

1:06:05

♪ Now my life is not so dim ♪

1:06:09

♪ I gave up everything to follow him ♪

1:06:13

♪ Now he is my best friend ♪

1:06:18

♪ And my my mind is made ♪

1:06:21

♪ Made up ♪

♪ And I'm on my way ♪

1:06:25

♪ Way up ♪

♪ I got to hold my head up ♪

1:06:29

♪ Head up ♪

♪ I'm going home ♪

1:06:32

♪ To live with the Lord ♪

♪ Yeah ♪

1:06:35

♪ To live with the Lord ♪

♪ And my mind is made up ♪

1:06:37

♪ Made up ♪

♪ I'm on my way ♪

1:06:41

♪ Way up ♪

♪ I've got to hold my head up ♪

1:06:45

♪ Head up ♪

♪ I'm going home ♪

1:06:48

♪ To live with the Lord ♪

♪ Yeah ♪

1:06:50

♪ Live with the Lord ♪

♪ Trouble in my way ♪

1:06:53

♪ Trouble in my way ♪

♪ I have to cry sometimes ♪

1:06:57

♪ I have to cry sometimes ♪

♪ Oh, nothing but troubles in my way ♪

1:07:00

♪ Troubles in my way ♪

1:07:03

♪ I have to cry sometimes ♪

1:07:05

♪ I have to cry sometimes ♪

♪ I lay awake at night ♪

1:07:08

♪ I lay awake at night ♪

1:07:11

♪ But that's alright ♪

1:07:12

♪ That's alright ♪

♪ 'Cause I've got Jesus ♪

1:07:16

♪ Jesus, he will fix it ♪

♪ By and by ♪

1:07:20

♪ By and by ♪

♪ Oh, troubles in my way ♪

1:07:24

♪ Troubles in my way ♪

1:07:26

♪ Yeah, yeah ♪

♪ I have to cry sometimes ♪

1:07:28

♪ I have to cry sometimes ♪

♪ I see nothing but troubles in my way ♪

1:07:32

♪ Troubles in my way ♪

1:07:34

♪ I have to cry sometimes ♪

1:07:36

♪ I have to cry sometimes ♪

♪ I lay awake at night ♪

1:07:39

♪ I lay awake at night ♪

1:07:43

♪ I lay awake at night ♪

1:07:47

♪ I lay awake at night ♪

1:07:51

♪ I lay awake at night ♪

♪ But that's alright ♪

1:07:55

♪ That's alright ♪

♪ Oh, I know Jesus ♪

1:07:58

♪ Jesus, he will fix it ♪

♪ Do you know Jesus ♪

1:08:03

♪ Jesus, he will fix it ♪

♪ Yes, I know Jesus ♪

1:08:06

♪ Jesus, he will fix it ♪

♪ Do you know Jesus ♪

1:08:10

♪ Jesus, he will fix it ♪

♪ Oh, early in the morning ♪

1:08:14

♪ Jesus, he will fix it ♪

1:08:16

♪ Yeah, in the midnight hour ♪

♪ Jesus, he will fix it ♪

1:08:20

♪ When I'm all alone ♪

1:08:22

♪ Jesus, he will fix it ♪

♪ No one to call my own ♪

1:08:25

♪ Jesus, he will fix it ♪

♪ When I'm in the need of prayin', yeah ♪

1:08:29

♪ Jesus, he will fix it ♪

1:08:31

♪ Jesus is always there ♪

♪ Jesus, he will fix it ♪

1:08:35

♪ Do you know Jesus ♪

1:08:37

♪ Jesus, he will fix it ♪

♪ By and by ♪

1:08:40

♪ By and by ♪

1:08:42

♪ Yeah, yeah, yeah ♪

1:08:46

(audience applauding)

♪ Hey ♪

1:08:52

♪ Yeah ♪

1:08:57

♪ I know Jesus ♪

1:09:07

♪ Do you know Jesus ♪

1:09:11

♪ Jesus, he will fix it ♪

♪ Yeah, I know Jesus ♪

1:09:14

♪ Jesus, he will fix it ♪

1:09:17

♪ Do you know Jesus ♪

1:09:19

♪ Jesus, he will fix it ♪

♪ Yes, I know Jesus ♪

1:09:23

♪ Jesus, he will fix it ♪

♪ Do you know Jesus ♪

1:09:27

♪ Jesus, he will fix it ♪

♪ By and by ♪

1:09:31

♪ By and by ♪

1:09:33

(audience applauding)

1:09:40

-

Something I don't do very often,

1:09:50

but I have to say amen.

1:09:52

-

Amen.

1:09:54

-

It's alright.

(audience laughing)

1:09:56

(audience applauding)

1:09:59

That's alright.

1:10:03

-

But I spend my days on this campus

1:10:04

working with students like you've heard here tonight.

1:10:07

I can say to you I truly do believe

1:10:11

we shall overcome.

1:10:14

-

Oh, yes.

-

It's my responsibility tonight

1:10:17

to introduce our keynote speaker.

1:10:20

A common man

1:10:25

who have achieved uncommon deeds.

1:10:27

A man who came out of a period of time

1:10:33

that obviously was a special period of time,

1:10:39

because he lived during those years,

1:10:44

those early years

1:10:48

when Dr. King was growing up

1:10:50

and developing his philosophical outlook on life.

1:10:53

He had many

1:11:00

persons who have contributed to his education.

1:11:04

And I'd like to spend just a few minutes

1:11:07

describing this unusual person to you.

1:11:12

A resident of Norfolk, Virginia.

1:11:17

A man with a strong family group.

1:11:21

A grandmother who never

1:11:28

allowed him to say I can't,

1:11:31

and a mother who made sure

1:11:35

that he did those things that she knew

1:11:39

would hold him in good stead

1:11:42

for the rest of his life.

1:11:45

And a father,

1:11:47

a father that knew what a father must do.

1:11:49

And as he said to us today,

1:11:54

his father did to him

1:11:56

on many occasions as he grew up

1:11:59

as a young man.

1:12:01

But those family members

1:12:04

was instrumental in

1:12:07

supporting Dr. Proctor.

1:12:11

He got his undergraduate degree

1:12:15

from Virginia Union University.

1:12:19

And with the support,

1:12:22

guidance and confidence that he

1:12:25

and his family had in him,

1:12:29

he took off north

1:12:31

to Crozer Theological Seminary

1:12:34

where he earned a degree in divinity.

1:12:39

And he went on to Boston University

1:12:43

where he earned a doctorate

1:12:46

in theology in 1950.

1:12:49

This was the beginning

1:12:53

of a tremendous professional career.

1:12:56

He started out at a small church,

1:13:00

Pond Street Baptist Church,

1:13:06

Providence, Rhode Island.

1:13:08

That place couldn't hold him very long.

1:13:10

For in 1955, he became president

1:13:14

of Virginia Union University at Richmond, Virginia.

1:13:18

From there he took the presidency

1:13:23

at North Carolina A&T University in 1964.

1:13:26

He went to the Peace Corps

1:13:31

as one of the those firs people that

1:13:33

took up places.

1:13:36

His was in Nigeria as a director there.

1:13:38

He served as associate director

1:13:43

of the United States Peace Corps in Washington.

1:13:45

And he was associate general secretary

1:13:50

of the National Council of Churches,

1:13:54

a special assistant to the director

1:13:58

of the Office of Economic Opportunity,

1:14:00

was president of the Institute for Service to Education,

1:14:05

and he spent time as administrative dean

1:14:09

at the University of Wisconsin in Madison.

1:14:12

Reverend Proctor was pastor

1:14:19

of Abyssinian Baptist Church in New York City;

1:14:23

a church was a long history,

1:14:26

with a proud record of contributions

1:14:29

to the development of opportunities

1:14:34

in this country.

1:14:37

He calls himself retired now.

1:14:41

But I've known him about seven years,

1:14:45

and I'd hate to been

1:14:48

associated with him when he wasn't retired.

1:14:51

He makes me tired even retired.

1:14:54

(audience chuckles)

1:14:56

He serves as adjunct professor at

1:14:58

the United Theological Seminary in Dayton, Ohio,

1:15:01

the School of Theology at the Virginia Union University.

1:15:06

In 1991 he was a visiting professor

1:15:11

at the Divinity School at Vanderbilt University.

1:15:14

He was recognized in 1990,

1:15:19

for he was awarded the Lyman Beecher Lecture

1:15:23

at the Divinity School at Yale University.

1:15:27

Dr. Proctor is a member of the governing board

1:15:32

of the United Negro College Fund,

1:15:35

the Colgate Rochester Crozer theological seminary

1:15:38

of Rochester, New York.

1:15:43

And he's a member of the overseers

1:15:45

of the Visiting Committee for the Divinity School

1:15:47

at Harvard University.

1:15:50

Needless to say, a man who have

1:15:54

participated in so many activities,

1:15:57

have been awarded many outstanding award.

1:16:01

And let me just name a couple of the ones

1:16:06

that he has.

1:16:07

He was named Outstanding Alumni at Boston University.

1:16:12

He was given the Distinguished Service Award

1:16:17

at State University of New York at Plattsburgh.

1:16:20

And he was awarded the Rutgers Medal

1:16:25

for distinguished service.

1:16:28

He has honorary degrees from Boston University,

1:16:30

Bucknell University, Davidson College,

1:16:35

Howard University, among many others.

1:16:39

He has studied and toured all over the globe,

1:16:44

the Soviet Union, India,

1:16:48

North Africa, New Zealand, among others.

1:16:52

And he has written.

1:16:57

He has take the time to put his

1:16:59

ideas on printed page.

1:17:02

He is the author of the Young Negro in America, 1966;

1:17:06

Sermons from the Black Pulpit, 1984;

1:17:12

Preaching About Crisis in the Community in 1988,

1:17:17

and his latest book, My Moral Odyssey,

1:17:21

which he dedicates to the young people

1:17:25

on college campuses in 1989.

1:17:28

It's my pleasure to introduce this man

1:17:32

who, through all of this,

1:17:36

have remained married to Bessie Tate Proctor.

1:17:39

And he has four wonderful young men in his life:

1:17:44

Herbert, Timothy, Samuel and Steven.

1:17:49

I'm sure that all of you will be

1:17:54

enlightened, entertained and...

1:17:57

provided a new insight on religion

1:18:02

through the presentation by Dr. Proctor.

1:18:06

(audience applauding)

1:18:11

♪ Lord ♪

1:18:30

♪ Take my hand ♪

1:18:33

♪ Lead me on ♪

1:18:39

♪ Let me stand ♪

1:18:45

♪ I am tired ♪

1:18:50

♪ I am weak ♪

1:18:55

♪ I am worn ♪

1:19:00

♪ Through the storm ♪

1:19:07

♪ Through the night ♪

1:19:11

♪ Lead me on ♪

1:19:16

♪ To the light ♪

1:19:21

♪ Take my hand ♪

1:19:26

♪ Precious Lord and ♪

1:19:31

♪ Lead me on ♪

1:19:36

♪ When my way ♪

1:19:43

♪ Draws drear ♪

1:19:47

♪ Precious Lord ♪

1:19:52

♪ Linger near ♪

1:19:57

♪ When my life ♪

1:20:01

♪ Is almost gone ♪

1:20:05

♪ Hear my cry ♪

1:20:15

♪ Hear my call ♪

1:20:19

♪ Hold my hand ♪

1:20:23

♪ Lest I fall ♪

1:20:28

♪ Take my hand ♪

1:20:32

♪ Precious Lord ♪

1:20:36

♪ And lead me on ♪

1:20:41

♪ Through the storm ♪

1:20:47

♪ Through the night ♪

1:20:51

♪ Lead me on ♪

1:20:56

♪ To that great light ♪

1:21:01

♪ Take our hands ♪

1:21:05

♪ Precious Lord and ♪

1:21:11

♪ Lead ♪

1:21:16

♪ Us home ♪

1:21:21

(audience applauding)

1:21:27

-

I thank God for the privilege of being

1:21:51

with your here tonight,

1:21:53

and for being in celebration of the life and work

1:21:56

of Martin Luther King Jr.

1:22:00

Dr. Beckham and to Tonya Robinson,

1:22:05

and Timothy West, whose words have inspired us

1:22:09

so much here already this evening.

1:22:12

To Reverend Debra Brazzel

1:22:17

who ministers here in this chapel,

1:22:21

and to the honorable Harry E. Rodenhizer,

1:22:25

the mayor of Durham;

1:22:29

and to Michael Hunt who has arranged

1:22:33

by coming and who's been so hospitable for me.

1:22:36

Mr. John Wilson, our presiding officer tonight.

1:22:40

To my fellow clergy who are here,

1:22:45

members of the administration and the faculty

1:22:49

and the student body of Duke University;

1:22:51

members of the community of Durham at large

1:22:55

who've taken the time to be with us.

1:22:58

Let me say how truly grateful I am

1:23:01

for this splendid opportunity

1:23:04

to be here with you tonight.

1:23:08

I was moved by that extensive and generous introduction

1:23:10

by Dr. Beckham. Now that was some introduction,

1:23:14

I won't you to know that.

1:23:17

(audience chuckles)

I was just thinking if I had ever had

1:23:21

a more lavish introduction than that,

1:23:24

then I think the only time I had a more

1:23:27

lavish one was when the fella

1:23:30

who was supposed to introduce me didn't show up,

1:23:31

and I had to introduce myself (speaks faintly).

1:23:35

(audience laughs)

1:23:37

Now let us talk about keeping the dream alive.

1:23:44

And if we had to take

1:23:51

the text for tonight, it would be

1:23:55

Martin Luther King's favorite text

1:23:57

from Amos 5:24: Let justice

1:24:01

roll down as waters,

1:24:05

and righteousness as a mighty stream.

1:24:07

Whenever we hear so many laudatory things said

1:24:13

about Dr. King,

1:24:16

because I knew him well and I was associated

1:24:19

with him for a long time,

1:24:22

from his earliest days in Crozer Seminary

1:24:25

until his death, I'm impressed with the fact

1:24:27

that, during his lifetime,

1:24:31

he did not enjoy everyone's support.

1:24:33

You must know that he faced his greatest

1:24:39

opposition from persons who felt

1:24:42

that he was too optimistic.

1:24:46

This so-called dream of his was too

1:24:50

naive in the minds of many.

1:24:53

They thought that he was too sanguine about

1:24:56

the prospects for change.

1:25:00

They thought that King really did not know

1:25:03

how mean and ugly people could be,

1:25:06

or how deep were the feelings of tribalism

1:25:10

in our culture.

1:25:12

Many of our young black contemporaries of Dr. King

1:25:16

thought that he non-violent position

1:25:20

was unrealistic.

1:25:24

He was rejected by many of them

1:25:28

because they thought that

1:25:30

he ought not to rule out the possibility

1:25:33

of violence in pursuit

1:25:36

of his goal, his dream.

1:25:39

But King held his ground, and he remained optimistic,

1:25:43

affirmative, positive

1:25:48

about this dream and about what could happen

1:25:51

in shaping the blessed community in our country.

1:25:54

And I think I understand why he was the way he was.

1:25:59

He was really the product of a great

1:26:05

many positive influences.

1:26:08

I want to mention these things to let you know that

1:26:11

it is not easy to produce a Martin Luther King.

1:26:14

They don't drop from trees.

1:26:19

You don't grow them in a field

1:26:22

like watermelons and potatoes.

1:26:24

An awful lot goes into the production

1:26:27

of a person like Martin Luther King Jr.

1:26:30

First of all, he had a grandfather

1:26:34

who was an outstanding minister in the Baptist church:

1:26:37

Ebenezer Baptist in Atlanta.

1:26:41

His grandfather was a leader

1:26:44

in civil rights matters in Atlanta.

1:26:46

I think of him as one of those who labored

1:26:49

in the quarries when the rock was hard indeed.

1:26:52

Dr. Williams was preaching sermons about brotherhood,

1:26:57

when persons were being lynched and having

1:27:01

their houses torched, their churches destroyed

1:27:03

for being as bold as he was.

1:27:07

His mother was a beautiful person.

1:27:11

She was a graduate of Spelman College.

1:27:14

She played the organ in her church, led the choir.

1:27:17

Many of you are too young to remember,

1:27:21

but she was assassinated also.

1:27:24

She was shot in her back while she was playing

1:27:28

the Lord's Prayer as a meditation on the organ.

1:27:32

King went from his Baptist Parsonage rearing

1:27:38

to Morehouse College.

1:27:43

I'm not an alumnus of Morehouse,

1:27:46

and it's hard for me to say anything

1:27:48

good about Morehouse College,

1:27:50

but--

1:27:52

(audience chuckles)

I have to say that Morehouse

1:27:54

has done far more than its share

1:27:57

in producing strong leadership for our people in America.

1:27:59

And again, I want to demystify

1:28:04

some of this for you.

1:28:09

Morehouse was such a great institution because,

1:28:10

early on, it had great leadership;

1:28:14

John Hope, for example.

1:28:17

John Hope graduated from Brown University

1:28:19

with, guess who? John D. Rockefeller Jr.

1:28:22

Go away from here, what a classmate to have.

1:28:27

(audience laughs)

1:28:30

Now if you've got to pick a classmate,

1:28:34

you pick John D. Rockefeller Jr.

1:28:36

1896, marching down Manning Street,

1:28:40

Hilton Providence, Rhode Island;

1:28:44

two persons carried the mace

1:28:46

in that commencement exercise:

1:28:48

John Hope and John D. Rockefeller Jr.

1:28:50

And then he went to Atlanta University to work,

1:28:56

and from that, Morehouse College emerged,

1:28:59

and John Hope became the president.

1:29:02

But it's not bad when you're trying to raise money

1:29:05

for a college to have a good ol' buddy

1:29:07

like John D. Rockefeller Jr.

1:29:09

to dump that money on you when you needed it.

1:29:12

So Morehouse was one thing,

1:29:17

and then Spelman was being founded by the sisters

1:29:19

and the cousins of John D. Rockefeller Sr.'s wife,

1:29:25

also from Rhode Island.

1:29:30

You understand what I'm saying?

1:29:34

In when other schools were begging

1:29:36

and passing the hat for pennies all over Creation,

1:29:38

Spelman and Morehouse had their

1:29:41

snorkels in a deep trough.

1:29:44

They were--

1:29:47

(audience chuckles)

They were the recipients of the charity,

1:29:50

the largest of the Rockefeller clan.

1:29:53

So that's why Morehouse had such a fast and running start.

1:29:56

And then the American Baptist Home Mission Society

1:30:01

was financed also largely by the Rockefeller family,

1:30:05

John D. Rockefeller Sr.

1:30:10

And there again, Morehouse benefited.

1:30:12

You know why it's named Morehouse to start with?

1:30:16

Because Henry L. Morehouse was the executive secretary

1:30:20

of the Home Mission Society,

1:30:24

and ran all around the country trying to raise money

1:30:26

for Morehouse College.

1:30:30

And I recall reading that on one occasion,

1:30:32

somebody stopped him and asked him,

1:30:37

"Why are you trying to raise money

1:30:39

"for black farm boys from Georgia

1:30:42

"to teach them philosophy and ethics

1:30:45

"and logic and all of that?

1:30:47

"Why not teach them how to shoe horses

1:30:50

"and how to grow crops,

1:30:52

"and how to do carpentry work and masonry work?"

1:30:54

Morehouse said that some of them needed

1:30:58

to be taught those things and were being

1:31:01

taught those things by other institutions.

1:31:03

But he thought that some of them ought

1:31:05

to be steeped in the liberal arts and sciences.

1:31:07

And then he made a statement that I'll never forget.

1:31:11

I read this in a book by Miles Mark Fisher,

1:31:14

the late and distinguished pastor of

1:31:17

the White Rock Baptist Church right here in Durham.

1:31:19

Dr. Fisher quoted this in his book.

1:31:23

Henry L. Morehouse said, "I believe

1:31:26

"in the thorough humanity of the black man,

1:31:29

"capable of culture, capable of high attainment

1:31:33

"the sufficient time and under proper circumstances;

1:31:37

"not of being foreordained to be a hew of wood

1:31:41

"and a draw of water for the white race,

1:31:44

"predestined to irrevocable inferiority,

1:31:47

"but of being whose mind and soul can expand indefinitely

1:31:50

"to comprehend the great things of God,

1:31:54

"and to take a place of usefulness and honor

1:31:57

"in the world's activities."

1:32:00

And if you awaken me four o'clock in the morning,

1:32:02

and say, "Sam, wake up.

1:32:05

"What did Morehouse say?"

1:32:07

I could tell it to you, and why?

1:32:09

Because those words represent for me

1:32:12

a kind of a Magna Carta for all of us.

1:32:15

In 1895, a white man saying that

1:32:21

about us was highly significant.

1:32:25

Henry L. Morehouse.

1:32:29

And Mr. Luther King new those words

1:32:31

and he knew what they stood for.

1:32:34

And he drank deeply of those Pierian springs.

1:32:36

Then he left Morehouse and went to Crozer.

1:32:41

I preceded him at Crozer eight years earlier.

1:32:45

And at the time, I was president at Virginia Union.

1:32:50

I used to go to Crozer to give talks in the chapel,

1:32:54

and I met him there, we would talk way into the night.

1:32:57

He was making his plans,

1:33:01

and I'd gone to Boston University.

1:33:03

He'd been admitted to Edinburgh to do a PhD in theology.

1:33:05

And he and I would sit down to talk about

1:33:09

the relative merits of going to Europe

1:33:11

to study in Edinburgh with the Scottish Presbyterians

1:33:14

or to go to Boston University in an urban setting

1:33:19

and study philosophy of religion.

1:33:23

I did my best to persuade him to go to Boston

1:33:25

and have access to the realities of urban life in America.

1:33:29

And he accepted that, and with other people persuading him,

1:33:33

he went to Boston University.

1:33:37

But he took with him from Crozer

1:33:39

a very rigorous, a rigorous kind

1:33:41

of interpretation and understanding of the Bible

1:33:45

and the application of Christian principles

1:33:48

to social facts.

1:33:51

A new field had been invented by then

1:33:54

called social ethics,

1:33:56

and Boston University was one of the leaders

1:33:59

in the field of social ethics.

1:34:01

So you see what had gone on already

1:34:05

before Rosa Parks ever

1:34:08

decided not to move on the bus.

1:34:12

I say this because I'm talking

1:34:16

in a university where a great many of you

1:34:19

are trying to make up your minds right now

1:34:21

how great you're going to allow yourselves to be.

1:34:24

And I want you to remember that King

1:34:29

took advantage of every opportunity that came his way.

1:34:31

And then when the moment came for God to use him

1:34:37

in a cosmic kind of a social revolution,

1:34:40

he was ready for all of that

1:34:45

because he had been so well prepared.

1:34:47

Now he did not have in mind being a civil rights leader.

1:34:51

He did indeed want to be a Baptist minister,

1:34:56

serving a church that was demanding.

1:34:59

But I think in the back of his mind

1:35:03

he wanted really to be the president

1:35:04

of the Morehouse College,

1:35:07

and produce leaders like Mordecai Johnson

1:35:08

had done at Howard, and like Benjamin Mays

1:35:11

had done before him at Morehouse.

1:35:13

I think that was Mike King's ambition.

1:35:16

And so we went to Dexter Avenue Church,

1:35:19

and here again, he was not the first

1:35:21

radical pastor of Dexter.

1:35:24

Vernon Johns had been there before him.

1:35:26

And Vernon Johns was the kind of man who would

1:35:30

put a bulletin board out front, for example,

1:35:32

saying can a black man

1:35:35

live in Alabama and preach the truth?

1:35:39

Heh.

1:35:42

And the police kept trying back and forth by there

1:35:43

looking at that sign.

1:35:47

One of the cops had nerve enough to stop,

1:35:50

and Johns was out there cutting the grass,

1:35:52

they couldn't afford a sexton.

1:35:54

He told me that, as little as they paid him,

1:35:56

they asked him he would want to double as sexton.

1:35:59

As pastor, he needed the money,

1:36:01

so we was the sexton and the pastor.

1:36:02

(audience chuckles)

1:36:04

And he asked Vernon Johns out there cutting the grass,

1:36:06

he says, "Hey boy.

1:36:08

"Do you reckon the pastor

1:36:12

"knows that that sign is out here?"

1:36:14

Johns says, "I know that the pastor knows it

1:36:17

"because I'm the pastor."

1:36:22

(audience chuckles)

That's the kind of man Vernon Johns was,

1:36:26

a graduate of Oberlin College, Graduate School of Theology;

1:36:28

had developed a congregation already

1:36:32

who could accommodate a person like Martin Luther King.

1:36:35

There are no mysteries out here.

1:36:38

There is some understanding of facts lying behind

1:36:44

all of these marvelous phenomena.

1:36:47

Dexter Avenue was prepared for Martin Luther King,

1:36:52

and Martin Luther King was prepared

1:36:56

for Dexter Avenue Church.

1:36:57

So when the day came when Rosa Parks would not move,

1:37:00

the bus driver asked her to move,

1:37:05

you remember how it used to be.

1:37:07

For the young ones, let me explain.

1:37:09

I grew up in the midst of it.

1:37:12

When you got on a bus in a public conveyance,

1:37:14

black people fill up from the back forward,

1:37:19

and white people fill up from the front back,

1:37:21

and if nobody else was on the bus,

1:37:23

you could sit anywhere you wanted to sit.

1:37:25

Rosa Parks got on the bus at an early point

1:37:28

way out there in the community where she was a seamstress.

1:37:30

She used to make dresses for well-to-do white people.

1:37:33

In those days, rich people didn't buy

1:37:38

their dresses off the racks ready to wear.

1:37:40

They had their dresses made.

1:37:42

They had their hats made.

1:37:44

And Rosa Parks was a professional seamstress.

1:37:47

Here she was riding home from a day's work.

1:37:50

She sat on the bus where she thought

1:37:54

it was going to be easy. And the bus filled up,

1:37:55

from the front, and it overlapped

1:38:00

where she was sitting, and the bus driver

1:38:02

came and asked her to move.

1:38:04

She was not there by herself, get up woman

1:38:07

and let this white man sit down.

1:38:09

The bus had filled up, and when it got to her,

1:38:12

ordinarily she would move back. But she thought on that day

1:38:15

that she would not move.

1:38:19

Nobody heard her make a plan like that,

1:38:22

no one had instructed her to do that.

1:38:24

She was active in the NAACP,

1:38:27

active in her church, active in the voting rights league

1:38:29

and all of that, active in the Montgomery

1:38:32

Improvement Association, but they had no plan

1:38:34

for her to do that.

1:38:36

It was just that day she decided that the time had come.

1:38:38

You know you've got to give that woman

1:38:42

an awful lot of credit for the whole revolution.

1:38:43

(audience applauding)

1:38:47

Oh, yes.

1:38:49

And you've got to know something else

1:38:53

about epistemology, there are lots of ways

1:38:56

of knowing things, you know?

1:38:59

Experimentally, trial and error, you know,

1:39:00

all of that, pragmatically;

1:39:04

try something, see if it works,

1:39:05

and if it works, it's right and true.

1:39:07

You know, all kinds of ways.

1:39:09

But then there is intuition,

1:39:11

having a hunch that this is the time.

1:39:13

And then existentially,

1:39:17

knowledge, truth coming at you

1:39:21

through the crown of your head,

1:39:23

through the sole of your foot. No antecedents, no.

1:39:25

Nothing forming in a trajectory from it.

1:39:30

But instant knowledge. You know, when I studied Greek,

1:39:33

I found out that there were two kinds of time.

1:39:37

One kind of time was chronos.

1:39:39

You know, that's eight o'clock in the morning,

1:39:42

nine o'clock, 10 o'clock.

1:39:44

That's the sun just sneaking across

1:39:45

the meridian, you know, and making another day happen.

1:39:49

That's chronos.

1:39:52

Ordinary time, clocks, calendars,

1:39:54

you know, we live at that all the time.

1:39:57

But there's another kind of time,

1:40:01

and that kind of time says that there are crisis moments

1:40:04

when God intervenes in his own time.

1:40:10

And this time is the right time.

1:40:16

It's God's time.

1:40:19

It's called kairos. It's judgment time.

1:40:22

It's when chronos has finished all it's going to do,

1:40:27

and then kairos intervenes.

1:40:31

It's like eternity just dipping into time, you know,

1:40:34

it's God's moment.

1:40:39

And there this lady, Rosa Parks,

1:40:41

living on a certain day

1:40:44

in a certain hour of the time, chronos.

1:40:46

But then here comes kairos invading time

1:40:49

and telling her that the hour has come.

1:40:53

Don't move today.

1:40:55

(audience laughs and claps)

And she didn't move. She didn't move.

1:41:00

Now the bus driver ought to have been able

1:41:04

to look at her and tell that she was not

1:41:06

the kind of person to mess with

1:41:09

because she didn't have on lipstick,

1:41:11

she didn't chew chewing gum,

1:41:14

she wasn't smoking a cigarette,

1:41:16

she didn't have on these high, high heels, you know, this.

1:41:18

She was in energetic shoes, you know,

1:41:22

her hair was combed back in a soft bun behind her head,

1:41:24

and she was soft spoken.

1:41:28

He should have known from the way she talked to him,

1:41:30

I better leave this woman alone.

1:41:33

I'm sorry, sir, but I don't think I'm going to move today.

1:41:35

And you will have to do whatever you have to do.

1:41:39

Couldn't he tell that a world revolution

1:41:43

was about to break lose?

1:41:45

(audience applauding)

1:41:49

Something ought to have said to him that

1:41:55

I better move, this lady here gonna get me in trouble.

1:41:57

But he went on, all of us look alike,

1:42:01

so he went on and arrested her. Now I could understand

1:42:04

if certain kinds of people that I know

1:42:08

had been sitting there, who looked up at him,

1:42:10

and looked up at him and said,

1:42:13

"Let me tell you something, you (grumbles).

1:42:15

(audience laughs)

1:42:18

If you want me to move, you move me.

1:42:19

And if you touch me, you're kinfolk are gonna be walking

1:42:25

slow behind you singing sad songs.

1:42:29

(audience laughing and applauding)

1:42:32

Singing sad songs.

1:42:39

Oh, and then take an apple out of her bag

1:42:42

and throw it up in the air,

1:42:45

and pull a razor out of her bosom

1:42:47

and peel it on the way down.

1:42:49

Now if she had been sitting there,

1:42:53

I could've understood now why

1:42:56

the bus driver would've carried on like that.

1:42:59

You know, we found the lady who would not serve

1:43:02

the young men at the lunch counter in Greensboro.

1:43:05

We found her in Ohio.

1:43:10

And Woolworth and the community of Greensboro

1:43:12

brought her back in 1980 in February

1:43:15

to reenact the whole scene.

1:43:19

Oh, she was delighted to come.

1:43:21

And they asked me to come back down and give a speech

1:43:23

at that time, and I was delighted to come

1:43:25

to meet all of the four fellas who were our students.

1:43:28

And we had a good time.

1:43:31

Oh, she came down there with her head dyed blue.

1:43:33

(audience chuckles)

1:43:36

And she was looking good.

1:43:38

And of course, she said,

1:43:40

she said that she wanted to wait on the fellas,

1:43:42

but the manager told her she couldn't.

1:43:45

And all of that we heard.

1:43:47

And CBS and ABC and NBC,

1:43:48

everybody was there taking her picture.

1:43:50

But we can't find the bus driver.

1:43:52

(audience laughing)

1:43:56

Somebody said he jumped off a bridge

1:44:03

in a shallow, muddy creek

1:44:07

and just broke his neck and drowned.

1:44:10

Somebody said he shot himself.

1:44:16

Somebody said when he saw Martin Luther King

1:44:19

getting the Nobel Prize,

1:44:22

he just had a heart attack and died in a chair.

1:44:24

(audience laughs)

1:44:28

But he's the cause of the whole thing.

1:44:31

Isn't that interesting?

1:44:36

Now that night when they all got to the meeting,

1:44:38

they arrested who?

1:44:41

Rosa Parks; you got to be kidding. Rosa Parks?

1:44:43

What kind of a policeman would arrest that woman?

1:44:47

What did she do?

1:44:50

They had their meeting, they needed a new leader,

1:44:51

and they said to Mike King, we called him Mike,

1:44:55

they said, "You've got a PhD,

1:44:57

"your dad is well off, your granddaddy left you some money,

1:45:00

"and your mother's well off.

1:45:04

"You won't have to stay in jail. "You be the leader."

1:45:05

(audience laughs)

1:45:09

All of the rest of them said,

1:45:11

"My wife is a teacher, I can't get involved in this.

1:45:13

"I have a big mortgage on my farm,

1:45:16

"I just bought a truck in man got me a good loan."

1:45:18

Everybody had an excuse.

1:45:21

And King has told us about that many, many times,

1:45:23

that fateful night,

1:45:27

and how the dial pointed to him,

1:45:29

and he had to assume the leadership.

1:45:33

He knew of outstanding persons who had

1:45:36

assumed this king of leadership.

1:45:39

He knew about A. Philip Randolph.

1:45:42

He knew about Adam Clayton Powell Sr. and Jr.

1:45:44

He knew all about Mary McLeod Bethune,

1:45:48

Mary Church Terrell, great leaders.

1:45:52

He knew about them.

1:45:56

And why did he know about them?

1:45:57

He told us that, at his home in Atlanta,

1:45:59

they had to entertain these people

1:46:02

when they came through town.

1:46:04

See, we couldn't stay in those hotels at that time.

1:46:05

Oh, no.

1:46:08

We couldn't stay, we couldn't eat in a restaurants,

1:46:09

and any preacher who had a big house,

1:46:12

it was sort of like a motel then.

1:46:14

Any important people who came to town,

1:46:16

you know, you had to entertain them.

1:46:18

King said he would come home from school,

1:46:20

and he would be shocked at who was sitting up there

1:46:23

in the living room talking to his mother and father.

1:46:25

Howard Thurman would be there and Mordecai Johnson,

1:46:28

the head of the Urban League, NACP, anybody might be there.

1:46:31

And as curious as he was, and as bright as he was,

1:46:36

he would sit there and learn all of the things

1:46:40

that they had to say.

1:46:43

Now from all of that, he deduced

1:46:45

that this country could pursue movement toward

1:46:49

a blessed and a genuine community.

1:46:54

He had prepared his mind at Crozer

1:46:57

and at Morehouse and at Boston

1:47:00

to dream that dream that you've heard so much about.

1:47:04

He thought that this community could emerge.

1:47:07

He believed in all of the noble

1:47:12

and sublime messages in our Declaration of Independence

1:47:15

and in our Constitution. He believed in these things.

1:47:18

He thought that America had a kind of

1:47:22

a destiny to demonstrate to the whole world

1:47:25

what a free society could become

1:47:28

with pluralism and diversity. He embraced this.

1:47:31

And that's why I sat there with Bill Russell on the day

1:47:36

of that famous speech in Washington.

1:47:41

And all of us sat there in rapture

1:47:45

as he exposed to us the flavor of his thought

1:47:48

about this dream.

1:47:53

All men and women are created equal

1:47:55

and are endowed by their Creator with certain

1:47:59

rights that are inalienable.

1:48:01

But here we are, my friends, in 1992.

1:48:04

And if King were to come back among us now,

1:48:09

he would be appalled at the polarization in our society.

1:48:12

Here on Duke's campus tonight, it looks good.

1:48:18

But this is not a true sample of what it is like

1:48:22

in America today.

1:48:25

Do you know what happened at the university--

1:48:27

(audience applauding)

1:48:29

Do you know what happened at the University

1:48:32

of Washington last week?

1:48:34

I read in the paper that at the University of Washington,

1:48:36

a physics professor launched a campaign

1:48:40

among the faculty to get rid of

1:48:43

a course in the curriculum on

1:48:47

multiculturalism and diversity in education.

1:48:50

Now, not a political science professor;

1:48:54

no, not a humanities professor,

1:48:56

but a physics professor!

1:48:59

Upset because students were required to take

1:49:02

a course in multiculturalism,

1:49:06

just learning about different cultures.

1:49:09

He said that the reason he didn't like it was

1:49:13

he thought somebody was put up to this

1:49:15

to make the school people be politically correct.

1:49:18

He thought minority students had compelled the university

1:49:22

to vote; the faculty voted to have this course.

1:49:25

But they voted in an open meeting,

1:49:28

he wanted to have a secret ballot and campaign.

1:49:29

Vote secretly so nobody will no who's responsible

1:49:34

for this attitude on the campus.

1:49:38

And the faculty voted it out of the curriculum

1:49:41

with an overwhelming majority.

1:49:44

Not at a Ku Klux Klan rally, no;

1:49:47

but at the University of Washington in Seattle.

1:49:50

I think that's the meanest spirit

1:49:56

that I have heard of coming out of

1:49:59

an academic institution.

1:50:01

Who in the world could get hurt

1:50:04

with a three-semester-hour course

1:50:06

on the diversity that is in America.

1:50:10

We're so terribly polarized.

1:50:15

In New York City, little gang fights

1:50:17

every night reported.

1:50:21

It looks like New York City is just falling apart.

1:50:24

And then, don't forget, Mr. Duke

1:50:28

did get 55% of the white vote in Louisiana.

1:50:31

55%. Not everybody voted for him,

1:50:37

but what a testimony

1:50:41

for a former Grand Dragon of the Ku Klux Klan

1:50:43

in 1992, 1991.

1:50:46

Then there's an attack on affirmative action

1:50:51

coming from every quarter.

1:50:53

I was in the university the other day,

1:50:55

and just before we wrapped it all up,

1:50:57

somebody said, "I have just one final question.

1:50:59

"This is a rich school with privileged kids in this school.

1:51:02

"And they've all been to Europe and to the Louvre

1:51:07

"and art galleries, they all been to prep schools

1:51:10

"and the finest schools."

1:51:13

One young man stood up and says,

1:51:15

"I know everybody else wants to ask this question,

1:51:16

"nobody wants to ask it, but Dr. Proctor,

1:51:18

"what do you think of affirmative action?"

1:51:20

I said, oh, I thought I was gonna get out here easily;

1:51:23

now you've raised that question.

1:51:26

I said, well, let me tell you.

1:51:27

My daddy drove a truck in the Norfolk Navy Yard

1:51:29

for 44 years.

1:51:32

President Truman gave him a medal for not

1:51:34

driving the thing overboard and killing himself.

1:51:36

(audience chuckles)

1:51:38

And my daddy was better educated than all

1:51:41

of his supervisors.

1:51:43

My daddy used to write obituaries for them

1:51:45

because they didn't know how to do it.

1:51:48

When they had someone to die in their group,

1:51:51

they would run straight to Herbert Proctor

1:51:53

and find his truck where he was hauling

1:51:55

coal or fruit or putting something on the ships,

1:51:57

and asked him to climb down out of his truck,

1:52:00

get the name of the man and write an obituary.

1:52:03

And they would give him 50 cents and come by

1:52:05

and pick it up.

1:52:06

I would say, daddy, how can you write

1:52:08

an obituary for someone you don't even know?

1:52:09

"Oh, they said he was a mighty fine fella

1:52:12

"and I thought I just trusted them."

1:52:14

Well what did you put into it?

1:52:16

"Oh, I put a little bit of the 90 Psalm,

1:52:17

"little bit of the 14th chapter of the Gospel of John,

1:52:19

"little bit of the 13th chapter of 1 Corinthians in there,

1:52:22

"and sprinkled a little Thanatopsis

1:52:24

"from William Cullen Bryant, little bit of

1:52:26

"Tennyson's In Memoriam, and I just let it go."

1:52:28

And I said, daddy,

1:52:30

daddy, you didn't know him and you did this?

1:52:33

He said, "Well did he pay you, did you get the 50 cents?

1:52:35

Yeah, he gave me 50 cents to give you,

1:52:37

but how could you do it?

1:52:39

My daddy could take a total stranger

1:52:40

and hang him from the balustrades of glory

1:52:43

for 50 cents.

1:52:46

(audience chuckles)

For 50 cents.

1:52:48

He did their taxes for them.

1:52:50

Imagine, driving the truck,

1:52:53

Herbert Proctor, doing all of the literary work,

1:52:56

all of the tax work for his supervisors!

1:52:59

And I said to this young man,

1:53:03

do you know that the policy of the Navy was

1:53:04

that no black man at that time could rise any higher

1:53:08

than a chauffer in the Navy Yard

1:53:12

no matter how bright he was.

1:53:14

Now how do you think we could ever

1:53:16

undo that system?

1:53:19

And how do you think we could undo

1:53:22

the legacy, the consequences of it?

1:53:25

And then I said to him, you're too young,

1:53:29

19 years old,

1:53:33

to be letting such evil embrace you

1:53:36

at this early age. You're too young.

1:53:40

He didn't know beans about affirmative action.

1:53:44

I said, look at me,

1:53:46

do I look like an affirmative action something to you?

1:53:48

I said, let me tell you something,

1:53:50

it's 1969, I told him;

1:53:52

I went to Rutgers University to give

1:53:54

a Martin Luther King memorial speech,

1:53:56

the first one after King's assassination.

1:53:58

President Mason Gross was sitting in the back of the chapel.

1:54:00

Everybody came to see what it would be like

1:54:03

to have a memorial for King,

1:54:05

and I went on and told all the things I knew about him.

1:54:07

Then it was all (mumbles), President Gross came to me

1:54:09

and said, "Sam, what would it take

1:54:11

"to bring you to Rutgers?" I said, keep talking.

1:54:13

(audience chuckles)

1:54:16

And before the day was over,

1:54:19

he had convinced me to leave Wisconsin and Madison

1:54:22

to come to Rutgers to take the Martin Luther

1:54:26

King memorial chair.

1:54:28

He did it in his office all by himself.

1:54:30

And I said, how did you happen to be able to do that?

1:54:32

He said, "Around here, 39,000 students,

1:54:35

"4,000 faculty people, and I can't get a faculty

1:54:40

"to vote to recommend a black professor

1:54:44

"for the height, for money and love

1:54:46

"or any other kind of thing. "It just doesn't happen.

1:54:49

"I went to the legislature," he said,

1:54:52

and he asked them to give me 20 positions

1:54:54

that he could have in his pocket.

1:54:57

So if he found an Hispanic, or a woman,

1:54:59

or a black person, he could add

1:55:02

that person to the faculty list; affirmative action.

1:55:04

And I went to the faculty with the president

1:55:10

giving me one of those positions that

1:55:13

the legislature gave him out of his pocket.

1:55:15

Affirmative action. And in the 15 years that I was there,

1:55:18

I recruited and graduated 72

1:55:22

young black college faculty people

1:55:25

who did not have doctor's degrees,

1:55:28

and I got 72 of them through.

1:55:30

There about seven of them in North Carolina right now.

1:55:34

In Mississippi there are nine of them.

1:55:37

And when I go to Jackson, all nine of them

1:55:39

come to the airport to see me when I arrive.

1:55:41

(audience applauding)

1:55:44

If King were here today, he would be shocked

1:55:52

at bright, intelligent, well-informed people

1:55:56

taking a position against anything

1:56:01

that would break the lockstep

1:56:03

between our needs, our aspirations,

1:56:06

and that long legacy of denial

1:56:10

through which we have suffered.

1:56:13

They have forgotten that there were 244 years

1:56:16

of chattel slavery,

1:56:20

and another 125 years of apartheid following that.

1:56:22

Don't you know you've got to do something special

1:56:27

to overcome that kind of a legacy?

1:56:30

Urban despair all around us.

1:56:34

Drugs eating us alive.

1:56:37

Crime everywhere, deep sense of futility

1:56:40

in all of our urban centers, and an underclass is growing.

1:56:44

How do you keep a dream alive in the midst of this?

1:56:49

Well let me conclude by summarizing for you

1:56:53

these thoughts that I bring to this issue.

1:56:57

For one thing, we have got to go back now

1:57:00

and learn how to celebrate

1:57:03

the worth and the dignity of all of God's children.

1:57:06

And some of us have never learned how to appreciate this.

1:57:11

We've been indifferent about the status of some people.

1:57:15

And we have thought and behaved as though

1:57:19

they chose to be marginal.

1:57:21

We've not looked at the circumstances

1:57:24

from which they have come.

1:57:27

When I was a boy I learned this lesson so clearly.

1:57:30

We had a woman in town we called Crazy Ider.

1:57:32

This woman would ride around town,

1:57:36

roll a baby carriage filled up with liquor bottles

1:57:38

and newspapers and old evening gowns,

1:57:42

whatever should could find,

1:57:45

and just keep rolling all over the city.

1:57:47

We would see her everywhere.

1:57:49

And all of the bad little boys would come up behind her

1:57:50

and holler, "Crazy Ider," and run.

1:57:53

Well she couldn't run, she had on men's shoes,

1:57:56

and sometimes wearing a winter coat

1:57:59

in the middle of the summer.

1:58:01

But they thought it looked cute to call her Crazy Ider.

1:58:02

Tell me what is there about human nature

1:58:05

that would cause a privileged child in good health

1:58:08

and sound mind to want to add to that woman's burden

1:58:10

who had already lost her mind?

1:58:14

All of this hatred. Crazy Ider and run.

1:58:16

But then the devil is cute,

1:58:21

the devil got into me one day when I

1:58:22

saw her come down Fremont Street,

1:58:23

and I said, I'm not gonna call her Crazy Ider everyday.

1:58:25

But just today, I want to call her Crazy Ider

1:58:28

just to see if I've got the guts to do it.

1:58:32

Oh, I can remember that day like yesterday.

1:58:35

When I tested myself, the devil had a grip on me,

1:58:38

and the devil said, "Get in the alleyway

1:58:43

"between our house and Ms. Truster's house.

1:58:45

"Nobody will see you, nobody will hear you,

1:58:47

"and just call her Crazy Ider and get it out

1:58:50

"of your system and run."

1:58:52

(audience chuckles)

1:58:54

And I waited until she got right there by me,

1:58:55

nobody around; I looked up, God wasn't even there,

1:58:58

nobody watching, and I sucked in a deep breath

1:59:01

and licked my lips, and I said, Crazy Ider; flew.

1:59:05

My granddaddy built that house in 1919,

1:59:10

and there was a window on the side of it

1:59:14

that we never opened.

1:59:16

(audience chuckles)

And I heard that window open; creak.

1:59:19

And I saw my momma's fat face with those Popeyes

1:59:23

come out of that windows.

1:59:27

And my momma said, "DeWitt, come here."

1:59:30

(audience chuckles)

1:59:34

I wished that the earth could've opened and swallowed me.

1:59:35

She said, "Did you call her Crazy Ider?"

1:59:39

I have never answered my mother from that day till now.

1:59:42

I just haven't answered her.

1:59:47

I just looked at the dirt, the grass, the floor.

1:59:49

And she went on, she said, "Don't call her Crazy Ider."

1:59:53

She said, "She was a girl in school with the rest of us.

1:59:57

"We used to sing duets whispering hope in school,

2:00:00

"we would recite Longfellow's Psalm of Life

2:00:03

"and Paul Laurence Dunbar's poem at the breakfast

2:00:06

"and all of that." She said, "She was a nice girl.

2:00:09

"She married a very mean man who beat on her.

2:00:12

"They had three children, he abandoned her,

2:00:14

"and left her with these children.

2:00:16

"She couldn't get help from anybody,

2:00:18

"she crapped up, went to Petersburg.

2:00:20

"When she came up, she was worse,

2:00:22

"often she was when she went there.

2:00:24

"And we'd give her a little money every now and then

2:00:26

"to help her," but she said, "DeWitt,

2:00:28

"don't ever call her Crazy Ider again."

2:00:31

As old as I am right now, that was one of

2:00:34

my basic lessons in Christian ethics.

2:00:37

My momma taught me, don't call that woman Crazy Ider at all.

2:00:39

She reminded me of Jesus in the last week

2:00:45

that he was on Earth,

2:00:48

going in and out of Bethany every night,

2:00:50

into the city preaching everyday.

2:00:52

And who lived out there in Bethany

2:00:54

where he went every night?

2:00:56

Simon the Leper. Simon the Leper.

2:00:58

When the woman cracked a box of ointment on his head,

2:01:01

he was having dinner at Simon the Leper's house.

2:01:04

Simon the Leper, his nose eaten away,

2:01:07

his fingers eaten off, toes missing;

2:01:10

family wouldn't visit him, anybody touched him,

2:01:14

go and wash your clothes, burn up the tools you used;

2:01:17

nobody allowed to go in there.

2:01:20

And Jesus, whom they called the Son of God,

2:01:22

in the last week on Earth,

2:01:26

where do you think Jesus was?

2:01:28

In the home of Simon the Leper in Bethany.

2:01:31

That ought to be enough to let of all us know

2:01:36

how God cares for the least of these.

2:01:39

And we not gonna see this dream come alive

2:01:43

until we back away from our narcissism,

2:01:45

all of our idolatry and embrace the dignity

2:01:48

and worth of all of God's children.

2:01:52

And then hurry and see how we can create

2:01:56

opportunity for everyone to realize his or her potential.

2:01:58

Some folk have forgotten what Leon Higginbotham

2:02:02

pointed out in the marvelous book In the Matter of Color.

2:02:05

In the Matter of Color, Higginbotham,

2:02:09

a federal judge in Philadelphia, showed

2:02:11

that during the colonial days,

2:02:14

one state after another passed the most rigorous laws

2:02:16

to keep black folk from learning how to read.

2:02:20

Mrs. Douglass in Norfolk, Virginia

2:02:25

was sentenced to 30 days in jail

2:02:28

for teaching a slave in 1856 how to read.

2:02:30

We've got to start almost from scratch

2:02:36

and say we're not gonna let anybody

2:02:38

grow up illiterate, ignorant.

2:02:41

We don't want to have to support anybody

2:02:44

for a lifetime, untrained.

2:02:46

We don't want people ending up in prison,

2:02:48

costing us $40,000 per person.

2:02:50

We want to see every life fulfill its God-given potential.

2:02:54

And you can imagine what a hard lesson this was to learn.

2:03:00

I finished Virginia Union, you heard that read.

2:03:04

Do you know where Virginia Union began?

2:03:07

It began in a jail

2:03:10

on 17th and Main in Richmond.

2:03:13

Because, when the Baptist came to Virginia

2:03:16

to start a school for black folk,

2:03:18

the black Baptist and the white Baptist

2:03:21

of Virginia cooperated.

2:03:23

Nobody would sell land, nobody would rent a build.

2:03:24

And a man name Lumpkin had a jail that he used

2:03:28

for incorrigible slaves.

2:03:31

I mean, slaves who didn't like to be slaves

2:03:33

and did something about it.

2:03:36

You see, you think that the Bible

2:03:40

talked about Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego,

2:03:42

but this man had in his jail Shadrach, Meshach

2:03:46

and a bad negro.

2:03:49

(audience laughs and applauds)

2:03:51

And after the emancipation, he didn't need the jail anymore,

2:03:57

so the jail was surplus property.

2:04:00

The Baptists of Virginia bought Mr....

2:04:03

Samuel Proctor - Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial Service (1992)

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