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Martin Luther King’s 50th
BY MICHAEL MOTES
“The King 50th: You Can Fulfill
the Dream” has been chosen as the
overall theme to mark the nearly
week-long series of events to
commemorate the fiftieth anniversary
of the birth of late Civil Rights leader
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
Among the top participants in the
numerous activities will be President
Jimmy Carter, Senator Edward
Kennedy, United Nations Secretary
General Kurt Waldheim and
Ambassador Andrew Young. A “first”
will be the local meeting of a United
Nations’ committee.
According to Mrs. Coretta Scott
King, the observance “will focus
We Shall Overcome
attention on establishing January 15 as
a federal holiday .”
“The time has come for us to
demand that Congress follow the lead of
13 states which already have declared
the 15 th of January as a public
holiday,” Mrs. King said. “Those
coming to Atlanta for the Birthday
Observance will also participate in
special workshops designed to build
winning strategies for state ratification
of the ERA and D. C. representation
amendments.”
President Carter will be in Atlanta
on Sunday, January 14, to receive the
1979 Martin Luther King Non-Violent
Peace Prize. The formal presentation
will be made by Mrs. King at 2 p.m. at
Ebenezer Baptist Church.
A community rally at Ebenezer
Baptist Church Thursday, January 11,
from 7:30 to 9:30 p.m. will launch the
numerous activities.
On Friday, January 12, a
Labor / Management/Government
Awards Breakfast is scheduled for 8
a.m. in the MLK Community Center.
Senator Edward Kennedy will be
the key-note speaker at a Policy
Conference at Ebenezer January 12,
beginning at 10:30 a.m. World Peace,
U.S. Ratification of Human Rights
Covenants, Implementation of the
Humphrey-Hawldns Bill, passage of the
MLK Birthday Bill and Health Care are
among the scheduled topics to be
discussed.
A presentation ceremony focusing
on the new U.S. Postal Service
Commemorate Stamp honoring Dr.
King will take place at Ebenezer
Saturday, January 13, at 9 a.m.,
followed by a series of “strategy
sessions” on topics ranging from the
passage of the Equal Rights Amendment
to securing greater voter registration. In
the evening, Atlanta University Center
will host a youth rally and disco dance.
Dedication of the MLK
Datatorium is scheduled for 3:30 p.m.
on January 14, followed by an
Interfaith Service at Big Bethel Church
' at 5 p.m. A number of Atlanta clergy
are expected to participate in the service
at which Archbishop Donnellan will
deliver the benediction. A memorial
concert will be held at the Civic Center
at 8 p.m.
The January 15 day of observation
(Continued on page 2)
On that afternoon in 1955, Rosa
Parks was tired. It had been a long day
and the sizzling heat of the afternoon
made it seem longer.
She waited for her bus. Beneath
her feet the pavement fried under the
hot, unmerciful Montgomery sun. As
usual, the bus was late.
Rosa stepped aboard the dusty
streetcar, paid her fare and looked down
the long, unfriend
ly, narrow aisle.
The back seats
were full. She had
hoped for one
empty seat. A
place to flop down.
A little quiet
silence where her
servant day could
be forgotten. It
was not to be.
Only the white, up
front seats yielded
a vacancy. They, she knew, offered at
the same price per rider, were
forbidden.
The logic of this asinine,
nonsensical, utterly ridiculous precept
collapsed at that instant. And the clatter
of that collapse would be heard into the
next generation as the New World was
challenged to bear the fruit of liberty
and justice, for all, at last.
Rosa sat down. Realizing the
transgression, frothing in anger and
disbelief, the incensed Montgomery bus
driver reached her side in a one stride
instant. Speechless, but waiting for
movement that would cowtow in
apology, he glared at the stubborn
figure that was about to raise her eyes.
When she did, they both knew that this
intransigent stare, shared by this
reluctant brother and sister of the
South, had brought an era to an end.
Segregation was dead.
Martin Luther King, Jr. was an
apprentice minister in South Alabama
that year of ’55. He did not know Rosa
Parks. He well knew segregation. Like a
million of his brothers, like generations
of pinning blacks before him, the
horrors of human restriction haunted
and taunted his life. If the right moment
was proposed, if that moment should
cross his path, he knew he would grasp
it. Rosa, staring at the angry bus driver,
was the moment.
Birmingham was out there unseen
before him - a hateful place of dogs and
hoses and savage reluctance. And Selma,
smelling of death, was out there too.
And Ole Miss, unyielding to a few human
black faces in class and the lily-white
beaches of Jacksonville and the lonely
inevitable bullet of Memphis. It was all
waiting for his voice and his marching
feet, but the moment was Montgomery
and the beautiful bravery of Rosa Parks
was the spark.
If they could not ride in freedom
then they would use a powerful
alternative. They would march. And
they did.
Montgomery laughed, scorned,
taunted, threatened and finally begged.
But the first, the very first taste of
success was in the air. All the songs and
tears were being fulfilled. “Ain’t
Nobody Gonna Turn Me Round.”
“Nobody Knows the Trouble I’ve
Seen.” “We Shall Overcome, some day.”
Their prophetic verses were at long last
reaching fulfillment. The overcoming
day had arrived.
Montgomery, capitol of the State
of Alabama, abandoned the back of the
bus business, not because of great moral
insight, but because of great economic
necessity. The Nation was next.
Inevitably, against mountainous odds,
the rot would be healed. This week he
would have celebrated the fullness of
life - a half century of human activity.
With others who dared, he sang his song
prematurely.
We shall overcome.
qU4til\
Catholic Archdiocese of Atlanta
Thursday, January 11,1979
$5 Per Year
‘OUR LADY’ RECEIVES DONATION ~ Sister Mary dePorres of
Pur Lady of Perpetual Help Hospital accepts a $2,500 check from Martha
Whitehead, volunteer chairwoman of the American Cancer Society’s
service and rehabilitation program. The donation represents an annual gift
from the Georgia Division of the Cancer Society to the free Atlanta cancer
hospital. The facility provides care for terminally ill patients, the majority,
of whom are needy.
But What Will They Drop...?
NEW YORK (NC) - Reader’s Digest, noted for its condensation of
famous books, is now undertaking to condense the Revised Standard Version
of the Bible. Readers Digest expects to sign a contract in a few weeks with
the Division of Education and Ministry of the National Council of Churches
which holds the copyright on the Revised Standard Version, reported
Associated Press.
Work on the condensation has already begun and the company hopes to
have all 66 books of the Revised Standard Version condensed within five
years, said Herbert Lieberman, executive editor of condensed book projects
at Reader’s Digest.
The plan is to cut the Old Testament by half and the New Testament by
about a quarter to produce a 720-page condensation, said Lieberman.
The Revised Standard Version contains about 800,000 words.
MEXICAN VISIT
New World Welcomes Pope
PUEBLA, Mexico (NC) - Pope
John Paul II and the Latin American
bishops will discuss Catholicism in
contemporary Latin America while
surrounded by majestic volcanos and
historic buildings.
The discussions will take place in
Puebla, an ancient city of 500,000
people. Besides views of volcanos and
historically important buildings, Puebla
has a rich tradition exemplifying the
centuries-old mission of the church to
preach the Gospel.
Among the 12 Franciscan
missionaries who first evangelized the
area was Father Toribio Benaventa,
known by the Indians as Fray
Motolinia. His name meant “the
converter” in the local Indian dialect.
Father Benaventa also was known for
his defense of the Indians against abuses
by the Spanish conquerors.
Tne first bishop of Puebla, an
80-year-old Dominican named Julian
Cortes, was also known for his bold
defense of the Indians. He is also
remembered for his long trips
occasioned by the huge territory
included in the Puebla Diocese. The
vastness made the Puebla Diocese
instrumental in evangelizing central and
southern Mexico.
The Dominicans, Franciscans and
Jesuits built convents and churches
which are showpieces of Baroque
architecture. They compete for
attention with the colonial facades of
palatial residences and public buildings
of various other styles. These include
Toltec, Gothic and Renaissance.
Along with the splendor, are
buildings symbolizing the suffering of
Catholicism, such as the Convent of
Santa Monica. The nuns in residence
lived underground during the years of
persecution launched by President
Plutarco Calles against the church in the
1920s. Guides show visitors the long,
complicated system of secret passages,
walls and hidden doors. The system
made it possible for the nuns to
continue living in the area and even
offer asylum to other Catholics.
Towering above all these structures
is the Cathedral of Puebla de los
Angeles, begun in 1562 and completed
in 1649. The cathedral is marked by
fine wooden carvings located in the
choir section, the Altar of Kings and the
Cypress Altar. The cathedral also has an
excellent library donated by Juan de
Palafox y Mendoza, a former bishop
who became viceroy of Mexico and
archbishop of Mexico City during the
colonial era.
Bishop Palafox also cared for the
Indians and praised their skills in his
book, “On the Nature of the Indian.”
One chapter narrates how, after a
Spanish artisan cast one of the largest
bells for the cathedral, its sound was
defective. An Indian worker said: “Do
not be troubled, for when you were
bom you could not speak, but by
practice you learned. Let this bell ring
its tongue many times and its sound will
be clear.” Artisans polished the bronze.
The bell, after many centuries, acquired
a noble ring.
Puebla became an archdiocese in
1903. The beatification cause for its
first archbishop, Ramon Ibarra
Gonzalez, has been introduced at the
Vatican. Besides being a missionary and
preacher, he constructed many
hospitals, asylums and colleges.
The current head of the see is
Archbishop Rosendo Huesca Pacheco.
The actual site of the meeting,
officially called the third general
assembly of the Latin American
bishops, is the Palafox Seminary,
located outside the city. It is a modem
complex containing several buildings
and wings. Most of the assembly
delegates will live on the seminary
grounds.
Eventual decisions made by the
delegates could have a strong effect on
Puebla’s factories and businesses. Puebla
is an industrial hub for production of
petrochemicals, metal goods,
automobiles and household appliances.
Some of the issues to be discussed by
the bishops are daily situations in this
industrial area. The issues include
worker-management relations, social
justice and the place of religion in
modem society.
POPE PLANS PUEBLA VISIT - Pope John Paul II talks with
Cardinal Alosio Lorscheider, president of the Latin American Bishops
Council, during an audience in the Vatican. The pope has announced that
he will visit the third general assembly of the Latin American bishops in
Puebla, Mexico, next month. Cardinal Lorscheider is co-chairman of the
assembly.
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