Arkadelphia native urges audience: ‘Reclaim Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’

Spectators wave to the crowd walking down main street in Arkadelphia for the celebration of Martin Luther King Jr. Day with a march that ended at the court building.
Spectators wave to the crowd walking down main street in Arkadelphia for the celebration of Martin Luther King Jr. Day with a march that ended at the court building.

ARKADELPHIA — The city of Arkadelphia capped off a full day of events celebrating Martin Luther King Jr. Day with a “marade” through the city’s streets on Monday afternoon.

Sponsored by the Clark County Branch of the NAACP, the marade (a march and parade) began at Mount Olive Baptist Church and traveled down Main Street to the Clark County District Court Building on Clay Street.

Participants in the marade, as well as those already gathered at the court building, streamed inside the courtroom, anxious to hear a native son and his remarks about King.

The guest speaker was the Rev. Kyle Jones, who grew up in Arkadelphia and earned a degree in political science at Henderson State University and a master’s degree in higher education at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock. He is the program coordinator for the McNair Scholars Program at Henderson and is the pastor for community/civic engagement at Greater Pleasant Hill Baptist Church in Arkadelphia. He formerly pastored at Mount Friendship Baptist Church in Curtis.

Jones quickly held court at the podium and told those in the audience that it is time “to reclaim” Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

Jones recalled the 1963 March on Washington, when King delivered what has become known as the “I Have a Dream speech.”

“Barack Obama is not the culmination of Dr. King’s dream,” Jones said. “He is a part of it, but not the culmination of it.”

Jones said most Americans “only remember the climax” of King’s speech.

“The recital of the I Have a Dream speech has become a staple in grade schools all across the nation, especially at this time of the year,” Jones said. “Children memorize it and recite it: ‘I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up, live out the true meaning of its creed: We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal.’”

Jones said the I Have a Dream “crescendo” was actually ad-libbed.

“History denotes that the speech was originally titled ‘A Canceled Check,’” Jones said. “I am willing to bet most people in this room have no idea why. That is the essence of my lecture today.

“The commodification of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. has marginalized his legacy. … Today, this year, in 2015, a year of resistance, we need to reclaim MLK, … especially in regards to recent political accomplishments amidst the horror and brutality we face right now in this nation. Sadly for many of us, the symbolism of Barack Obama has effectively become an achievement placebo.”

Jones said Obama is often exalted as the culmination of King’s dream.

“I submit that if we take a closer examination of political history, this idea falls flat on its face,” Jones said, adding that while the election of America’s first black president is an “enormous achievement, we cannot accept it as a full-scale accomplishment.”

Jones quoted the beginning of King’s I Have a Dream speech, “words that are hardly ever quoted,” he said.

Following is the beginning of King’s speech:

“Five score years ago, a great American, in whose symbolic shadow we stand today, signed the Emancipation Proclamation. This momentous decree came as a great beacon light of hope to millions of Negro slaves who had been seared in the flames of withering injustice. It came as a joyous daybreak to end the long night of their captivity. But 100 years later the Negro is still not free. One hundred years later the life of the Negro is still sadly crippled by the manacles of segregation and the chains of discrimination,” King said.

“Could the same be said today?” Jones asked.

King’s speech continues: “One hundred years later the Negro lives on a lonely island of poverty in the midst of a vast ocean of material prosperity.”

“Could the same be said today?” Jones asked.

King’s speech continues: “One hundred years later the Negro is still languishing in the corners of American society and finds himself an exile in his own land. So we have come here today to dramatize a shameful condition.

“In a sense we have come to our nation’s capital to cash a check. When the architects of our republic wrote the magnificent words of the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence, they were signing a promissory note to which every American was to fall heir. This note of promise that all men — yes, black men as well as white men — would be guaranteed the unalienable rights of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. It is obvious today that America has defaulted on this promissory note insofar as her citizens of color are concerned. Instead of honoring this sacred obligation, America has given the Negro people a bad check, a check which has come back marked ‘insufficient funds.’”

Jones said that considering the backdrop of King’s speech, “we must judge King and come to the understanding [of the dream] we’ve been sold.

“The politics of Barack Obama are not the prophecies of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. We must reclaim MLK,” Jones said. “We must stand up to unrighteousness no matter who sits in the White House. … We must stand for righteousness in every situation.

“People say, ‘What else do you want? You have a black president.’

“I’ll tell you, like Dr. King challenging the prophet Amos: ‘I will not be satisfied until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.’

“I won’t be satisfied until black men are no longer killed in the streets and the perpetrators — the police — stand trial and are convicted. … It is time to reclaim [King’s] true essence.

“Get to know the real MLK … so we can apply it to today’s circumstances,” Jones said. “We can’t be lulled into a zombieatic state where we seem alive during praise and worship, seem alive during the football game, seem alive when we are cheering on our children, but when we’re called into the street, asked to take a stand, when it’s time for us to come together, our spirits are cold to the touch.”

To conclude his speech, Jones referred to a quote by Harry Belafonte, a singer, actor and activist who met with King shortly before he was assassinated on April 4, 1968. Belafonte said King told a group gathered at [Belafonte’s] home, “What deeply troubles me now is that for all the steps we’ve taken toward integration, I’ve come to believe that we are integrating into a burning house.”

Jones said, “The house is still on fire,” referencing events involving Ferguson, Missouri; Michael Brown; Eric Garner; the movie theater killer in Colorado; and Gabby Gifford’s shooter.

“We have to put the fire out,” Jones said. “In the spirit of Dr. King, we have to step into the house and put the fire out. Not all will be willing to do so. … Death is around the corner. … King was afraid, but he conquered his fears to take a stand. In a world bowing down to complacency to an unjust system, … we can’t be afraid. …

“I don’t know about you this afternoon, but I done made my vow to the Lord. … I shall go to the end to see what the end may be.”

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