Greg Harris remembers the day Martin Luther King, Jr.’s dream seemed to falter.
On April 4, 1968, Harris, who is now the U.S. Attorney for Central Illinois, was a Howard University student in Washington, D.C., when he learned that King had been murdered.
“I remember the city going up in flames and the National Guard being on every street corner with bayonets. I remember how the school was closed. I remember how the Black Panthers came on our campus and closed down the quad, which is the main center of the campus. And they brought a machine gun on campus. I remember the turmoil, and it was just a period of sadness and fear.”
Harris was one of about 750 people who endured sub-zero weather to attend the 49th annual Martin Luther King, Jr., Memorial Breakfast sponsored by Springfield Frontiers International. It was held Jan. 15 at the Wyndham City Centre.
For those attending the event, the central question seemed to be: What is King’s legacy today?
“Well, I think his legacy is have a good heart. If you believe in God and follow God’s message, you can change the world,” Harris told Illinois Times. “I’m a lawyer, so I’m very particular with bringing matters of concern and dispute into the court system, rather into the streets. And I think that his legacy is that he used nonviolent methods to make social change.”
The keynote speaker at the event was Dr. Wendi Wills El-
Amin, the associate dean for equity, diversity and inclusion at Southern Illinois University School of Medicine.
“I’m a daughter of a physician – a physician who always saw every single patient, regardless of whether or not they could pay. I’m the daughter of a teacher who believed that every child had potential and was willing to protect that potential. I’m the granddaughter of a woman who actually delivered babies. No, she was not trained, but nobody else was there to deliver the Black babies.
“I’m a graduate of Hampton University, a historically Black university. And my first paper was actually about Fannie Lou Hamer. She was the youngest child of 20 children, and she coined the term that said, ‘I am sick and tired of being sick and tired.’ But you know what? I now understand, as a physician, why she said this after being beaten for trying to vote.
“After receiving what we call the Mississippi appendectomy – that’s a hysterectomy without her permission – she was speaking of the health impact of racism. She (would have) understood why our (Centers for Disease Control) last year declared that racism is a public health threat. Her favorite song was “This Little Light of Mine.” That’s my favorite song, too. That got me through medical school. But I want to remind you all that every single person in here has a light. And you have no choice but to let it shine.”
Indeed, there were many bright lights shining in the crowd early Monday. Among them was Larry Hemingway, Sr., president of the Springfield Club of Frontiers International.
“We do this event for two reasons. One is to bring the community together, which is the main thing. The other is just to remember King’s dream and to make it present every year within the Springfield community,” he said.
The Rev. Roy Newman, pastor of Fresh Visions Community Church, said he felt a special affinity for El-Amin, having baptized her three daughters the preceding weekend.
“Dr. Wendi’s presentation was excellent. She was building from the past and not allowing the past to hinder present opportunities and future growth,” Newman said. “I think the songs were wonderful. The unity and camaraderie demonstrated were special for early morning and minus five degrees.”
Newman added Martin Luther King’s message is more accepted today than when he was alive.
“He was fighting for equality, social justice. Sometimes we are more accepted after we pass and after time has moved on than when we were present for the fight,” he said.
Springfield Mayor Misty Buscher told IT the fight continues.
“We have several minority (city) directors, and we also have directors who are in one way or the other in the LGBTQ community as well. It’s important to me that the directors of the city of Springfield look like my community,” Buscher said.
She summed up King’s legacy this way: “I believe his legacy is exactly what we saw in this room – people, no matter what your skin color, working together to achieve a common goal and respecting one another along the way.”
Scott Reeder, a staff writer for Illinois Times, can be reached at sreeder@illinoistimes.com.
This article appears in Healthy, wealthy and wise 2024.
I strongly supported MLK in his movement for equality for blacks. It was fully justified and right. But it has nothing to do with the issue today of “equity,” which is not at all the same as equality, which MLK sought. Nothing today has any relationship to MLK’s cause back then.