Southwestern Illinoisans gather virtually to celebrate Martin Luther King Jr.’s legacy
Across the metro-east, people found ways to celebrate Martin Luther King Jr. Day on Monday with virtual events featuring local speakers, poets, singers and dancers.
King was born on Jan. 15, 1929, and his birthday is commemorated on the third Monday in January each year. A Baptist minister and activist, King is best known for his use of civil disobedience during the civil rights movement in the 1950s and 1960s. He was assassinated in 1968.
Mt. Joy Church in Edwardsville hosted a virtual talk from Pastor Miki King, of St. Louis, who emphasized the need for people to understand the time they’ve been given.
“[King] had 13 years to do what it was that he needed to do,” she said. “Martin Luther King Jr. understood his time. You need to understand yours.”
The United Congregations of the Metro East, New Life in Christ Church and the O’Fallon Metro East NAACP came together to host Senior Pastor Rev. J. Kevin James Jr. as a guest speaker in their virtual event.
In January, the pace of current events did not slow just because it was no longer 2020: Georgia elected its first Black senator, Rev. Raphael Warnock; a mob of President Donald Trump supporters stormed the Capitol and Illinois legislators voted to end cash bail.
James, a fifth-generation pastor, noted each of these events in his speech, and said the country is not doomed, even when it feels like change isn’t coming.
“We are stripping away, moment by moment, event by event, the haves and the have-nots,” he said. “ … God never wanted there to be a divide. God never wanted there to be haves and have-nots. God created us equally and God is showing us that success is not in one moment, but success is in moments that we will experience over a lifetime.”
Comparing King to the prophet Isaiah, James said the civil rights leader had a hopeful vision that stretched decades into the future.
“He fought with a tenacity that was rooted in the hope of an equitable future,” James said. “It was an ever trusting and believing faith that the Lord had not brought his people this far to leave them.”
Speakers at both events emphasized the need to pick up where King left off. Mt. Joy Pastor Steve Jackson said young people needed to “pick up the baton,” and that the young people who organized Mt. Joy’s event had done just that.
“As long as there is injustice, there’s an answer being birthed,” Miki King said.
This story was originally published January 18, 2021 at 11:57 AM.
