The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., who emerged as the nation’s leading civil rights activist while pastor of Dexter Avenue Baptist Church in Montgomery in the 1950s, was honored by the Alabama Legislature this past week just before the anniversary of what would have been his 92nd birthday.
King was born on Jan. 15, 1929, in Atlanta. He was killed on April 4, 1968, in Memphis. King’s wife, Coretta, was born in Marion, King was a pastor in Montgomery, and Alabama was a major backdrop for the events of his life, including the setting for his classic 1963 plea for civil rights, “Letter from Birmingham Jail.”
The civil rights activist is commemorated in many places in Birmingham, including with a statue in Kelly Ingram Park, and throughout Alabama. He was the pastor of Dexter Avenue Baptist Church in Montgomery from 1954-60, where he rose to national prominence as a spokesman for the Montgomery Bus Boycott in 1955-56. He led civil rights marches in Birmingham in 1963 that reverberated throughout the nation. He led the march from Selma to Montgomery in 1965. King was awarded the 1964 Nobel Peace Prize for his non-violent campaign against segregation.
State Rep. Jeremy Gray, a Democrat from Opelika, introduced a resolution in the Alabama House of Representatives to honor the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.; it was read into the record on Jan. 13 before the house convened for the King Day holiday weekend.
“As we mark this anniversary of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day, we are resolved to continue fighting not just for racial equality but for economic justice as well,” Gray said. “Alabama is one of the states with the highest poverty rates in the nation, with 16.7 percent of its population below the poverty line. As Dr. King once said: ‘Negroes have benefited from a limited change that was emotionally satisfying but materially deficient... Jobs are harder to create than voting rolls.’
“Dr. King knew then what we know now; it is not enough for us to continue the fight so that ‘we will not be judged by the color of our skin’ but to also invest in the human infrastructure and fight for economic justice: the idea that all people should have what they need to live and prosper.”
Gray said he had House Resolution 12 read into the record to state the continuing need to work toward King’s dream.
“Alabama’s H.R. 12 acknowledges that we have come a long way from separate but equal water fountains. However, fair and equal access to the American Dream and economic opportunity has yet to be obtained or realized.
“Suppose we in Alabama don’t ensure unfettered access to economic opportunities. In that case, we will continue to fail each generation that comes after us leaving no room for growth and a sustainable future and, unfortunately, continuing the legacy of one of the poorest states in the union. I implore us to demand economic and human rights for all Alabamians, especially those who live below the poverty line.”
The resolution concluded with, “Be it resolved by the House of Representatives of the Legislature of Alabama that the State of Alabama will continue to commemorate the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.”
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