LITTLE ROCK — Barely a week away from the 26th annual celebration of the life and work of Martin Luther King Jr., King’s nephew told an audience in North Little Rock that the holiday is not a time for barbecues or parties, but for service.
Isaac Newton Farris Jr., the son of King’s sister, Christine King Farris, was joined Sunday by a lineup of religious and public figures, including Sen. Mark Pryor and Rabbi Kalman Winnick. He told the audience of more than 100 people that they should go beyond the need to worship together and work together.
“It is not a day for you to chill in the park,” Farris said. “It’s a day on, not a day off.”
Winnick, of the Congregation Agudath Achim in Little Rock, spoke before Farris, calling the work and legacy of King more than just “human message,” but a “divine message,” one that is as relevant now as it was 50 years ago.
“We are part of something grander than ourselves,” Winnick said. “Today is great but we have much work left to do.”
Pryor pointed to Scripture to demonstrate the need for the community to “dwell together in unity” and that God, looking down on the tensions of “so small”social, cultural and economic differences, is “shaking his head.”
Farris, who was elected in 2011 to head the Southern Christian Leadership Conference - the group founded by King - said that his uncle’s message, and dream, could not be realized without a shared sense of community service.
But that alone won’t be enough, Farris said.
In a nation with a quarter of its children in poverty, substandard housing, deteriorating urban centers and drug and gun violence, a nation with its first black president and a population approaching a majority of “nonwhite” citizens, Farris said true social justice requires a new take on a true civic commitment: voting.
“We all must vote whenever we have the chance,” Farris said.
“But remember this: The time is over for voting for people who look like you do. The time has come to vote for people who think like you do.”
A monument erected in Washington, D.C., to honor King, placed among monuments to wars and wartime presidents, should be a teaching moment to modern-day activists and politicians alike, Farris said.
“[King] won his war without ever having to fire a shot,” Farris said. “You can win nonviolently. This is that symbol.”
From the lectern at the Bethel AME Church in North Little Rock, Farris suggested that current political rhetoric and attitudes are falling away from King’s legacy of protesting with “dignity” and “nonviolence.”
“It’s important we strive to bring greater civility to [the national discourse],” Farris said.
“We’re all Americans and we have to live together ... we need to get personal attacks out of our political dialogue.”
Also speaking at the event were Arkansas Supreme Court Justice Karen Baker, state Sen. Linda Chesterfield and Lamar Davis, who is the deputy chief of staff for Gov. Mike Beebe.
Arkansas, Pages 7 on 01/14/2013