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Renewing MLK’s fight against poverty
YOUNGSTOWN
Hundreds gathered at a South Side church Sunday afternoon in honor of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. not only for his fight against social injustice, but against poverty as well.
The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Planning Committee sponsored the Sunday worship service at New Bethel Baptist Church on Hillman Street on what would have been the fallen civil-rights leader’s 83rd birthday. The theme for the service was “Responding with King’s Passion in the Fight Against Poverty.”
The Rev. Dr. Lewis W. Macklin II, convener of the planning committee, said the theme was meant to reflect the trying economic times in the Mahoning Valley and how Dr. King would have responded to those issues.
The Rev. Dr. Macklin said we are at a time in society where many elderly people are faced with the decision on whether to eat a decent meal, heat their homes or treat an illness. Dr. King, he said, would have been disheartened to see anyone in such a situation.
According to Macklin, King’s main drive would be for those in society to help take care of the needs of his or her neighbor.
“It is always about the responsibility for us to care for one another. If Dr. King were here, he would speak to social policies and access to health care. We have a responsibility to deal with those issues. Poverty goes beyond race and class,” he said.
“We are stronger, we are better, when we are together.”
Brian Corbin, executive director, Catholic Charities Services, said it has been absolutely right to honor Dr. King since his birthday was established as a nationally holiday 25 years ago, but equally correct to associate the celebration with the eradication of poverty.
He said Dr. King, in his writings from 1967, said poverty has no justification in modern society and likened poverty to cannibalism, calling for a direct abolition of poverty.
Corbin said it is now incumbent upon everyone to help their neighbors and eradicate poverty.
The keynote speaker for the celebration service was Pastor Michael McBride of The Way Christian Center in West Berkeley, Calif. Pastor McBride reminded those in attendance Sunday that Dr. King, toward the end of his life, organized the “Poor People’s Campaign” at a time when only 30 churches nationally supported his work.
McBride said aspects of Dr. King’s Poor People’s Campaign are just as relevant today as they were 50 years ago with two separate Americas — one of prosperity and the other of daily despair — still exist. He said every member of society has a responsibility to work toward helping his fellow men and women, just as Dr. King is honored for doing throughout his life.
“We should all be inspired to live our lives in such a way that even after we die people can draw strength, hope and courage,” he said. “All of our religious traditions challenge us to be sacrificial in the way we live... We have the political power to change conditions if we maximize, organize and leverage it the right way.”
The Sunday afternoon celebration also included Bonnie Burdman, Minister Lewis Mohammed and Penny Wells each of whom read passages from various sacred writings. There were also performances by the Chaney Visual and Performing Arts Middle School Dancers and The Emancipation Community Choir.
There will also be a workshop from 9 a.m. to noon today at First Presbyterian Church, 201 Wick Ave., Youngstown, with Dr. Joseph Mosca, dean of Youngstown State University’s Bitonte College of Health and Human Services, speaking on the use and misuse of statistics on poverty. Pastor McBride also will speak.