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Communities urged to continue Dr. King's dream
The Rev. Thaddeus Douglas was the featured speaker at the first of two programs conducted in Jackson, Monday, Jan. 21. "We can't afford to forget," he began, during a celebration hosted by the Free Mission District Youth Department at Mt. Olive Baptist Church No. 2 "That is a powerful statement." Douglas pointed to three reasons the past civil rights struggles should not be forgotten. "The things in our past are the foundation of our future," he continued. "The things we have been through, black, white, Asian, Native American, affects our future. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. had negative things that pushed him to come together with people to have a dream. We should all suffer through great trials as Jesus and Dr. King did.
"We cannot forget our future. We should prepare in a procedure that is progressive. There are many corporations, people, pastors and Christians who are falling back. We can't fall back. We must move forward. "Dr. King's dream is still in progress and has not been fulfilled. We must be progressive in helping ourselves and helping others. We cannot afford to forget." The Rev. Cleveland Williams carried on the same message during his speech at that afternoon's program, sponsored by Genesis Inc., on the steps of Jackson City Hall. He spoke about confronting the ghosts of our past. "We need to be reminded that the full realization of Dr. King's dream will take longer than we thought," he said. "The hurt and pain of our past is too deep to be erased in 30 or 40 years. "Like any conflict, when ended, there are casualties. Older black men and women, like myself, are some of those. Like post traumatic stress syndrome, we have memories of the past that, like ghosts in the closet, haunt us. Some older people have ghosts of racism." Williams recalled an incident when he was a young college student in Mobile, of being passed over at a lunch counter then knocked down. "No one offered to help me recover," he said. He also recalled witnessing the beating of a black man by Mobile police officers. "I wanted to help him, but knew if I did we would probably both be beaten severely, if not to death." Williams talked about lynchings and the many times that 60 and 70-year-old black men were referred to as "boy." "Some feel we should forget about these things," he said. "Denials give birth to real racists. When denials are made it gives birth to black racists who compete against white racists.
"If Dr. King were alive he would tell us that until we fully realize the past, our progress will be delayed. Until we face racism we will not be able to exorcise it. To the young people, black and white, who have learned to live together, you need to face it. If you do not, it will repeat itself. When we do face it, our healing will begin."
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