Last week as part of the lead-up to Martin Luther King Jr. Day, Presbyterian Peace Fellowship offered an informative webinar featuring author and scholar Dr. Michael Long, who most recently edited “Bayard Rustin: A Legacy of Protest and Politics” about the man most responsible for organizing the landmark March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom in 1963.
The online weekly Chapel Service held most Wednesdays by and for the national staff of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) had three observances to mark: Monday’s birthday celebration of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Matthew 25: Dismantle Structural Racism Sunday as well as Racial & Intercultural Justice/Presbyterians Affirm Black Lives Matter Sunday.
On Tuesday, Columbia University’s Dr. Obery M. Hendricks, Jr. , one of the nation’s foremost commentators on religion and the political economy, warned an online crowd the nation is “at such a dangerous point” that “if we don’t push back against those who weaponize the Bible very soon, they might just get the upper hand, and we and our descendants will suffer.”
“We have to be about the business of taking care of young people. It can’t be all about just us here within the church confines. It’s got to be about other people,” said the Rev. Dr. Ralph Galloway, co-pastor of Liberty Community Church.
Virtually every adult American knows that Mahalia Jackson sang at the 1963 March on Washington and that the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his “I Have a Dream” speech there on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial.
But who can name the genius of organizing the massive event, without whom there would not have been a march? A man who had worked with union leader A. Philip Randolph back in 1941 to organize a similar march of 100,000 to go to Washington and demand that African Americans be employed in the defense industries — and who called it off when President Franklin D. Roosevelt issued an executive order commanding that “Negroes” be hired in defense plants. That man was Bayard Rustin, often called “the forgotten hero” of the civil rights movement.
Present both online and in person, nearly 70 people turned out Monday for a special screening at the Presbyterian Center of the brief film “1963-Still: Same Shot,” which was filmed by and featured youth ages 6-18. The film was made this summer through a partnership among the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.); its Louisville neighbor, the Roots 101 African American Museum; Media Pros Productions; Upcoming Storytellers; and the Louisville Central Community Center.
There are varieties of gifts, but the same Holy Spirit gives them. There are varieties of services, but the same Jesus Christ who is followed in service. There are varieties of activities, but the same God activates all of them in everyone. (1 Corinthians 12:4-6, paraphrased)
Individuals who want to gain a greater understanding of the civil rights movement and how it continues to be impactful can sign up for a Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) travel study seminar that will include visits to three southern states next spring.
The Presbyterian Center in Louisville, Kentucky, will host a screening of the film “1963-Still: Same Shot” from 3 p.m. through 4 p.m. Eastern Time on Monday, Nov. 20.
After spending a month discussing Sarah Augustine’s book, “The Land is not Empty: Following Jesus in Dismantling the Doctrine of Discovery,” an online group was treated earlier this month to more than an hour with the author herself.
