Once upon a time, I strolled across the street to the nearest bus stop and saw a religious poster on a glass wall. It was from the Jehovah’s Witnesses. Psalm 19.7 states, “The law of Jehovah is trustworthy, making the inexperienced wise.” In response, I wrote the following messages: “A Confucian (Ru) 儒 says, ‘Hi.’ A person standing next to his/her word 信 is the etymology for Trustworthiness (hsin)–the completion of the other four virtues” Humaneness 仁 (ren), Manners 禮 (li), Wisdom 智(chih), and Appropriate Assertiveness 義 (i). Actually, the Chinese character for trustworthiness was the only Chinese character I wrote on the Jehovah’s Witness poster, unlike this more detailed article.
My outreach happened near Easter 2022. Later, I found an article in my living room entitled, “The Asian Renaissance: What Americans Can Learn from Confucianism,” by Jay McDaniel. https://www.openhorizons.org/what-americans-can-learn-from-confucianism.html The second section is “Cultural Diplomacy and Green Friendships. ” McDaniel asserts that green friendships happen when people from different cultures get together and create third spaces, where people can learn from each other’s cultures.
Our current environment has been really dangerous for the study of African American history. To make a long story short, you have one group that wants to deny that slavery had bad aftermaths, and the other group claims Blacks had no success before the Civil Rights Movement. Upon my study of African American History, I included that era between slavery and the civil rights movement. Booker T. Washington was an important leader in the 19th century. He was the founder of Tuskegee Institute in Alabama, a college that focused on practical education, such as agriculture. Washington’s model influenced Matthew Gaines of Brenham, Texas who was instrumental in the founding of Texas A&M. The TAMU System always included an HBCU, Prairie View A&M. Charles and Ana Spaulding of Durham, North Carolina founded the Mutual Life insurance Company. Durham also has North Carolina Central–a leading HBCU; this city was hailed as having the nicest White people in the USA by both Booker T. Washington and W.E.B. DuBois. Booker T. Washington asserted it’s more important to make a dollar than to spend it in the theater of your choice. Martin Delaney (1812-1885) was hailed as the Malcolm X of his generation, for he was the first Black field officer, a medical doctor, and a book/magazine author. The list goes on.
This 7-minute Kwanzaa talk is going to be different from my 6 previous keynote addresses between 2002-2016 since I’m going to bounce around the 7 Principles. Today is Night Five Purpose. We planned on having a more discussion-style format this year, partly because COVID led to our program’s cancellation last year. Kwanzaa 2013 was another discussion-style format too. Creativity in Kwanzaa focuses on applicability, the “get-it-done” aspect of creativity. Leave the community better than when you found it. Gifted & Talented Education notes there are three other aspects of creativity: originality, fluency (lots of ideas), and flexibility (ability to adjust). Urban Studies scholar, Dr. Richard Florida of the University of Toronto, observes that thriving downtown areas need the 4 T’s: talent, tolerance, technology, and territorial assets. Hopefully, my talk will show flexibility successfully.
Faith is traditionally addressed in Tyler by Reverend Reginald Garrett. I’m going to say just one thing about Faith, and it’s from a Chinese viewpoint. The etymology of faith (hsin) is a person standing next to his/her word; thus, it’s synonymous with faithfulness. It’s the 5th and final virtue, meaning you perform the rest quite well. Meanwhile, in Christianity faith means you have the right opinion of God and the universe, so you may be able to get away with some stuff, some of the time.
The Seven Principles of Kwanzaa should have appeal to all people, regardless of race: 1. Unity, 2. Self-Determination, 3. Collective Work & Responsibility, 4. Cooperative Economics, 5. Purpose, 6. Creativity, and 7. Faith. You could cheer for your hometown’s success in an economic plan. Remember when the Moore Grocery Lofts at the northern edge of downtown won a state award for Best Adaptive Reuse? Several years ago, I had the insight that Kwanzaa is the effort to serve as a public intellectual. A public intellectual can be defined as one who brings their scholarship to societal issues outside their formal expertise.
Night 4, Cooperative Economics featured Derrick Choice, I was really glad to hear Derrick Choice talk about North Tyler in the pre-integration era when businesses were strong. Mr. Choice is a former North Tyler congressman among other positions. You can find a YouTube video by the late councilman, Ed Moore, when he described “The Cuts,” a major business area in North Tyler. Desegregation led to many businesses moving south. Many years ago, I even interviewed an old neighbor about sadness concerning desegregation.
Recently, I have done some research at the City of Tyler website https://www.cityoftyler.org and was pointed to Planning and Development websites, particularly Commercial Use Categories. As someone who rides the bus, I have the luxury of staring at the side of the road, but I see the same abandoned buildings in business areas/shopping centers for years. What if shopping centers could come together as a group and tell the weary local real estate agents who they’d like to recruit? For example, if we already got a Whataburger, don’t look for another burger restaurant. If we already got a Cefco, don’t get a dollar store that sells beer, go for a Dollar Tree. So, my comments during Mr. Choice’s talk for Cooperative Economics are relevant to tonight’s talk about Purpose.
I found about Kwanzaa when I was an elementary substitute teacher in the Garland ISD. It helped relieve a lack of books about and for little Black kids. Later, as a Developmental English/Writing instructor at Texas College, the HBCU in North Tyler form 2001-06, I usually assigned a Black History essay, and it became a chapter section in my ongoing textbook. Regardless of type of essay, I encouraged students to choose a happy story, so they’d be more likely to finish their essay. Essay prompts often take a format like, “Describe your favorite or worst job.” Furthermore, maybe you could just pick an upper quartile fun job, so you don’t have to spend a bunch of time figuring out what was “Number 1.”
We’re having Kwanzaa again in Tyler, TX, as it was canceled last year because of the COVID-19. The director invited me to help set up at the library auditorium and talk to a local conservativeTV station. I was warned that much of the questioning would likely revolve around, “Why would a White person attend Kwanzaa? (OK, 7/8 White).” The seven principles of Kwanzaa are (1) Unity, (2) Self-Determination, (3) Collective Work & Responsibility, (4) Cooperative Economics, (5) Purpose, (6) Creativity, and (7) Faith. These are universal concepts that anyone could study, enjoy, and live by. Furthermore, it’s easy to compliment your home city’s achievements with this analytical tool. I believe Kwanzaa enables us to serve as a public intellectual–someone who is trying to use his/her education to benefit society in areas outside one’s areas of expertise.
I’ve always had multicultural interests, starting with Japan and Pre-Columbian history in grade school. My interdisciplinary M.S. thesis was, “Approaching Cognitive-Behavioral and Existential Therapy through Neo-Confucianism.” My favorite music interests have moved from soul to melodic heavy metal to Tejano, and I still like them all. Today was my sixth anniversary of joining a Facebook closed group: Friends from A-Far: A Confucianism group! (We prefer the term, Ru. Missionaries named us after Confucius). I’ve been a taqueria fan for decades.
I first learned about Kwanzaa when I was a substitute teacher (among other jobs) in the Garland ISD during the late ’90s. Since I usually subbed in elementary grades, I found some Kwanzaa books for young kids. Later, I became a full-time Developmental English instructor at Texas College, the HBCU in Tyler, from 2001-06. I wrote and copyrighted a textbook for my course, which included a chapter on African-American Studies. Sometimes, I gave a Black History essay assignment. I encouraged the students to choose a happy topic, so they wouldn’t get depressed and not finish their assignment. I’ve been the main speaker for six Kwanzaa nights between 2002-2016, as well as some general lectures on Kwanzaa elsewhere. Reverend Reginald Garrett always does Faith night, the seventh and final night of Kwanzaa.
This year, I already had a topic for a Kwanzaa talk, centered around discussing African-American success after slavery but before the civil rights movement. African-American history has rarely been so endangered in recent memory. The radical political right claims that we must not teach Critical Race Theory in elementary or secondary school. Actually, it’s a law school topic; that is graduate college. The warning seems to be code for not admitting that slavery happened.
On the other hand, my approach is influenced by an article by Elizabeth Wright, “Keeping the Spotlight on Failure: How to Make Sure the Patient Doesn’t Get Well.” Ms. Wright explains that Black history is normally taught as (1) uprooting from Africa into slavery, (2) freedom followed by segregation, and Jim Crow laws, and (3) civil rights leaders bring integration and success. However, there were many successful entrepreneurs and educators in the segregated era. Alas, the issues-views.com website is gone! Booker T. Washington asserted that the ability to make a dollar was important than being able to spend it in the theater of your choice. Economic success would precede change in the law. Booker T. Washington became the first president of Tuskegee University in Alabama. The practical education focus was agriculture and engineering. This led to the Morrill Act that provided state funding for colleges in each state specializing in fields such as agriculture, engineering, and more. Matthew Gaines of Brenham, Texas–a Black man–was instrumental in the founding of Texas A&M. Charles and Ana Spaulding founded the Mutual Life Insurance Company of Durham, North Carolina–a city hailed by BTW and W.E.B. DuBois as the city with the nicest White folks in the USA, together with North Carolina Central–a leading HBCU. Martin Delaney (1812-1885) was hailed as the Malcolm X of the 19th Century, for he was the first Black field officer, a medical doctor, and a book and magazine author! The list goes on. My approach this time could probably be classified as Black Conservative.
Don Warren–Mayor of Tyler, Texas—delivered a speech at the Reformation House of Prayer (RHOP) entitled, “From a Black Hole: Transformed to a New Life,” on August 16, 2021. https://allevents.in/tyler/mayor-don-warren-from-a-blackhole-transformed-to-a-new-life/200021473028259 Mayor Warren described how becoming Christian enabled him to switch careers and regain success, including moving all the way in City of Tyler government. He used to have bad dreams that he’d go to a black hole during the 1986 oil industry crisis. Mr. Warren got into debt and got separated from his wife. So, he started a seafood restaurant that he ran for ten months. Then he asked for Christ’s help, got a divorce, and a new house. He was single for five months. He started playing the piano professionally as LOMOC (Little Ol’ Me Oil Company). Don married his second wife in 1994 after dating only six weeks. He worked 12 hours per day. Then he quit his job and golfed and watched movies for a year. He took a test at Green Acres Baptist Church, the largest church in all of East Texas, and it revealed he showed mercy.
Now Don turned his interest to the City of Tyler. He worked with a homeless organization, as well as a planning and zoning program with the city government. Mayor Warren was Councilman Warren first. Don helped raise $1.2 M for the renovation of Bergfeld Park, which included a new playground, amphitheater, and tennis court. He led “For All Tyler,” the development of Affordable Housing in Downtown and North Tyler. Tyler had a very cold winter snap in mid-February 2021. Some churches were made into warming centers. A generator on a Brookshire’s Grocery Store got a nursing home turned back on after the electric grid failure.
Mayor Warren turned his talk to more religious issues. All city council meetings begin with prayer for “In God We Trust.” It keeps things in check. Don Warren gave lists of bad and good words. Bad words include ego, power, disconnected, disingenuous, boastful, angry, and resentment. Sadly, Don’s father was a politician turned drunk, who broke his neck and got divorced. Here are the good words: compassionate, content, accessible, connected, relationships, caring, authentic, prayerful, humility, patience, listen, positive. Here are prayer points for city leaders. God, Family, City. To deal with conflict and realize we can’t make everyone happy. Patience means one is a good listener before speaking. Authenticity means to be ourselves, not chameleons. Finally, for positivity, don’t let others bring us down. I’ve known Mayor Don Warren since he was a councilman, and I gave him the nickname, Ubiquitous since you see him all the time in Tyler.
This year’s Martin Luther King Jr. Day was held in the front yard of the new location for the Texas African-American Museum–coincidentally on MLK Blvd. in a former fire house. Martin Luther King BLVD is the major East-West Street in North Tyler, a predominantly Black neighborhood in Tyler, which includes Texas College–an HBCU and the first institute of higher education in this city. The keynote speaker was Rev. Dr. Orenthia Mason.
The opening prayer was delivered by Bishop Laramie Jackson. It included a bridge to the past and a bridge to bring people together—struggles and achievements. Demerick Tezino sang “Amazing Grace.” LaToyia Jordan offered welcome before Gloria Washington announced the occasion. She reminisced about an early MLK Day observation in Jasper, Texas–25 years ago after an ice storm. “So we may be outdoors, socially distant during this coronavirus pandemic, but it was a rougher to hold a big event back then.” Plenty of chuckles responded.
Today included a celebration for having a new-and-improved location for the African-American Museum; it used to be further north in an abandoned elementary school, but now it’s on a major street. The late councilman, Ed Moore, was instrumental in getting the deal between the city and the museum, and a cornerstone has been planned in his honor. Shirley McKellar has become his successor as councilwoman. Some reconstruction is planned, and they will need donations.
Pastor Nicholas McGrew noted that he memorized the famous, “I Have a Dream” speech –so did his daughter! “We stand in the shadow of the Emancipation Proclamation, but 100 years later we still stand in an island of poverty in an ocean of the rich. To be satisfied, we need to have mobility, vote, and have justice. We still have the dream despite frustrations. Let us be judged by the content of our character; that’s one of MLK’s most famous sayings. Let freedom ring! We need to have integration of races and creeds. Then we’ll be free at last.”
Ms. Verlinda Stanton sang, “”Lift Every Voice and Sing,” the African-American National Anthem. She has worked with such stars as George Clinton and James Earl Jones. She has sung at an event for President Barack Obama too.
Stanley Cofer introduced the keynote speaker, Dr. Orenthia Mason. He observed “the integrated crowd as a dream of Martin Luther King. Esteem others higher than yourself; it’s like giving flowers to those who are still alive. All men are created equal.” Rev. Mason taught in Tyler ISD for 27 years. She was also a principal and on several boards. She retired as minister of St. James Christian Methodist Episcopal (CME) church. By the way, Texas College is a CME institution of higher education.
Reverend Orenthia Mason gave a scholarly and “hard-hitting” speech. She noted our continued struggle for freedom and congratulated the museum and city. She asked, “What condition is our condition since MLK’s, ‘I Have a Dream’ speech? We live through recurring cycle of racism, extremists, and hatred. Malcolm X told us to face reality, not a blurred version of the truth. Justice, whoever says it, benefits humanity.” To me, that sounds like a great critique of the ad hominem argument; ignore the idea because of disliking the speaker. Robert Kennedy asserted, “We should make an effort to understand others,” according to Rev. Mason.
She continued, “What condition is our condition in? When minorities vote more than average, it’s labeled as fraud. We are in perilous times.” Black kids are being threatened again. Reverend Mason recalled walking to school in groups with other Black kids, back in the 60s. That was because they could get attacked anyway—sometimes with baseball bats! She recalled, “You had to be better than best. How about the average? The struggles and heart aches of the past are still being felt. We have a long way to go to reach the Promised Land. “
Reflecting on the present, Rev. Mason lamented, “Artifacts of the past include menacing white drivers ‘varooming’ their cars behind her on South Broadway! Many Tylerites don’t even know where Texas College is located.” {It’s located at 2404 N. Grand Avenue, north of MLK Blvd]. She felt more respected during segregation. “The ‘haves’ have more. We’re in the ‘midnight of life,’ ‘strangers in a strange land.’ Let’s sit down at the Welcome Table. Listen; look at character, intellect, and ability. All of us should be who we ought to be.”
Rev. Mason is proud to be a resident of north Tyler. She has been a member of Leadership Tyler, an integrated local think-tank. “We’ve never been more divided in the USA, but we’ll overcome some day. United we stand; divided we fall.” She concluded with a quote by Henry David Thoreau, “It’s never too late to give up prejudice. Speak and listen.”
After another excellent song by Demetrick Tezino, Clarence Shackelford showed a model of the Martin Luther King, Jr. statue in Washington, DC. Leroy Francis donated the statue. Then Mr. Shackelford announced the Award Presentations. Mr. Shackelford, a noted photographer and Army veteran, is the founder of the Texas African-American Museum. Dr. Donna Pitts, a dentist won an award. She’s a graduate of Prairie View A&M and Howard; both are HBCUs. Our new Vice-President, Kamala Harris, is a Howard grad too; it’s located in Washington, DC. Dr. Pitts works for Franklin Dentists in Tyler, and she’s a member of the Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority (pink and green colors). Vicki Betts, a librarian, won an award for historical research. (By the way, she’s a little White lady). Rodney L. Atkins also won an award for historical research by writing two books: Remembering When We Were Colored in Tyler, Texas and The History of African-American Teachers in Tyler ISD. He’s connected with the Victory Temple Church.Andre Crawford won the Golden Eagle Award for being the current director of the Tyler Barber College—the first Black institution of its kind in the USA! Tyler Barber College spread to other states. Barber shops have a long history of being community gathering places in Black neighborhoods.
Mayor Don Warren was invited to give some comments. Mayor Warren noted that when he saw an episode of Good Morning, America, kids quoted Martin Luther King, and then asked, “What’s wrong with America?” Mayor Warren, previously a long-time councilman, “wants to work with all of Tyler, so it will be unified and peaceful. “
The program concluded with miscellaneous remarks. A new Councilman for Section 1 said he used to be a fire chief in Tyler. Ed Thompson will do the construction work, and LLC will be the architect on the new museum. It is 5000 square feet—far bigger than the previous museum. The goal is $300K in renovations, but some of the money would go to outdoors construction–such as a playground and outdoor dining area. I suggested building an urban garden to Stanley Cofer, and I later sent my article on the topic. Lunch trucks would be invited as two were here for the festivities. Somebody was selling an African-American News Journal, based on newspaper articles for over a century. If the Texas African-American Museum gets 10K likes on Facebook, then they can have some advertisements there. TAAM is up to 5K likes at the time of the MLK Festival. Sadly, a minister noted that his kids were threatened in Whitehouse lately, a town just southeast of Tyler.
The 2021 Martin Luther King Day celebration was really different this year because of acquiring a better museum and having a North Tyler program. Due to the pandemic, there wasn’t the usual march down Broadway Avenue, followed by the program at Immaculate Conception Catholic Cathedral. Nevertheless, this year’s program was very uplifting and indicated real opportunities for Northside Revitalization that is now being pursued by the City of Tyler.
Footnote: You can check out the edited version that was published in The Tyler Loop also. Thanks to Jane Neal. It’s posted at the top under the title.
We aren’t meeting in the Tyler, Texas Library in 2020 for Kwanzaa because of the coronavirus pandemic. I’ve been delivering official Kwanzaa speeches off-and-on since 2002—all but Faith Night out of seven nights. Of course, I check out Rev. Reginald Garrett for that last night. I’ve published articles as well over the last couple of decades, and I’ve given some general Kwanzaa talks
But we need to do som’n in cyberspace for Kwanzaa. I want to go in the direction of health, specifically the OTC vitamins/minerals that I take on a daily basis. We need to boost our immune system, in case we catch the pandemic COVID19 virus! OK, I’ve been on SSDI for a while for COPD, and I was invited to join the local Community Health Workers (CHW) coalition because of my Word Press articles and whatnot.
Not all multiple vitamins are alike. Spring Valley Super Vitamin B-Complex has 9 vitamins–including C & B12. Nature Made B-Complex has 6 vitamins–including C. Ocuvite for macular degeneration has zinc, among 6 vitamins and minerals plus lutein.
I am returning to Slice of Life (SOL) Tuesdays, for I ran across some old posts on my main Word Press site and became nostalgic–such fine feedback from other participants. I’m going to start with the tale of my dog figurine with a “Welcome” sign; the sign dangles from a chain in his mouth. A student gave me the coffee mug-sized doggie as a present, back when I was a full-time Developmental English instructor at Texas College (2001-06)–the HBCU (Historically Black Colleges & Universities) of Tyler, TX.
I tutored Spanish for free–not part of my job description–chiefly because our Spanish instructor–Mr. Idrogo–was an adjunct, who taught a couple of nights per week while he taught Spanish full-time for one of Tyler’s two public high schools. We met a few times, and I found him to be likeable, and he approved of my tutoring efforts. I was the main translator for our classroom building’s custodian also; she was basically “Spanish Only.” I also developed a website through McGraw-Hill Pageout with a major Spanish section, but that company ended this program many years ago.
That dog sculpture is white with black spots and is sitting on his /her back legs with the front legs straight. Recently that “Welcome Dog” has been sitting on round table between my futon sofa and the TV. Right now, that doggie is on my desk-top computer desk and may stay there–less crowded furniture. Viewing that dog brings back great memories. I won a few formal teaching awards that normally ended up being a certificate pinned to the wall. Strathmore’s Who’s Who was an entry in a giant book. But that dog figurine from my student is really special. Here’s my current Spanish tutorial website, and it includes links to my main website at Academia.edu. https://spanishtutorialdotnet.wordpress.com/
MLK Presentation in Tyler 2013: Fred McClure, Keynote Speaker,
Reported by J.D. Meyer
Tyler celebrated the 27th annual Martin Luther King, Jr. Interfaith Community Program at the Immaculate Conception Catholic cathedral. The event is sponsored by the Tyler Together Race Relations Forum (TTRRF). The invocation by Max Lafser of Tyler Unity included a Bible verse that indicated where we’ve been in the past doesn’t necessarily have a bearing on the future. The local unit of the Korean War veterans presented the colors. The whole audience sang “Lift Every Voice and Sing,” and the lyrics were provided in the program. Father Anthony McLaughlin did the welcome. He noted that racism is an inherent evil–meaning it’s everywhere–and the Catholic Church is determined to work against racism. Mayor Barbara Bass was the next speaker, and she shared her reflections on Dr. King. Mayor Bass observed that Dr. King “lived his faith every day.” God called MLK for a special purpose even if it meant risking his life. The movement has grown beyond the borders of the US. The mayor concluded by asking us to grow each day as a community.
Jeff Williams of Exclusivity Marketing delivered the “Occasion for Gathering.” First, Mr. Williams thanked the crowd for coming to the event because MLK Day is a holiday, and we could have gone anywhere or stayed home. He noted that we live in a time of more division than unity. There can be resistance to changing the status quo whether it was the Civil War, women’s vote, or the Civil Rights Movement. You can see further when you’re higher in the elevator. Mr. Williams reflected that Lyndon B. Johnson knew how to get things done. When LBJ met MLK, Blacks were routinely denied the right to vote but paid taxes and died in war. MLK told LBJ, “There’s always the right time to do the right thing.” LBJ asked Dr. King to help him put enough pressure to do the right thing. Mr. Williams reminded us that both Johnson and King were southerners. Johnson was from Texas, and King was from Georgia. As a member of Tyler Together, Mr. Williams wants to know your perspective, what matters to you, and to meet you, so TTRRF can help build a better community. He proclaimed that we can’t afford to lose brain power in the community.
Steve Russell of Empowering Texas Youth introduced the keynote speaker, Fred McClure. They have been friends since high school through belonging to Future Farmers of America (FFA) in neighboring cities. Fred McClure graduated from Nacogdoches High School where he also played football and was a pianist for the band. Mr. McClure earned a bachelor’s degree in Agricultural Economics at Texas A&M in 1976 where he became that university’s first African-American student body president. I should add that Texas A&M had fewer than 5% Black enrollment in that era. On the other hand, agricultural economics was Texas A&M’s most popular major back then. After getting a law degree from Baylor, McClure became an advisor to President Ronald Reagan, President George H.W. Bush, and Texas Senator John Tower. Mr. McClure became a member of the Texas A&M Board of Regents in 1995 and later joined the board of directors for the 12th Man Foundation. Now Mr. McClure is the director of the George H.W. Bush Presidential Library Foundation at Texas A&M http://bushlibrary.tamu.edu/.
Due to the Coronavirus crisis, Tyler Transit has temporarily ended the Green & Purple Lines while reducing times for the other three lines: Red, Yellow, and Blue. Update: The Red Line will follow the Purple North pathway after leaving Bergfeld Center; thus, it will go down Beckham AV and the two hospitals.
Since I need to catch the nearest Yellow SE to Bergfeld Center—Tyler Transit’s second bus hub–I need to work out a schedule. I’m going to list the times for stops at the Yellow SE line. Meanwhile, I‘ll acknowledge the gap of time when the Yellow line is in the Southwest.
The 34th Annual Martin Luther King, Jr. continued its traditional program by meeting at the Downtown Square and marching to the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception at 423 South Broadway Avenue for a program. This year’s theme was “Only in the darkness can you see the stars.”
Some Signs on the March
Here are five signs that I saw while downtown, and they are quotes from Dr. King: (1) “If I cannot do great things, I can do small things in a great way. (2) “Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.” 93) “Time is always right to do right.” (4) “I have decided to stick with love. Hate is too great a burden to bear.” (5) Forgiveness is not an occasional act; it is a constant attitude.” The International Education Lab of Tyler Junior College carried a sign proclaiming, “We are the dream.” The John Tyler, Robert E. Lee, and Grace Community high school marching bands participated in the march too.
Introductory Remarks.
The Call to Order/Invocation was given by Bishop Nick McGraw. He read an excerpt from a letter that a Caucasian girl from White Plains High School sent to Dr. King after he’d survived an injury early in his career. Dr. King stated that if he’d sneeze, he would have died. The young lady wrote, “I’m glad you didn’t sneeze.” This became the title of one of his speeches. An early civil rights speech was at Birmingham, Alabama in 1963.
Reverend Jonny Williams gave the Invocation. With God, you can do all things, moved by the Spirit—the source of all joy. The Presentation of the Colors & Pledge of Allegiance was performed by Boulter Middle School. The “Star-Spangled Banner” by Mrs. Jessilyn Yarber presented a wide vocal range and dramatic changes in volume, building to a loud climax at the end. “Father Hank Lankford and County Commissioner Joanne Hampton gave the Greetings. Ms. Hampton noted that Dr. King’s last talk was on April 3, 1968, in Memphis. She noted the theme of this year’s 2020 event and urged us to make MLK’s dream a reality here.
The favorite MLK quote of Tyler Mayor, Martin Heines, is a question, “What are you doing for others?” The Mayor noted that it is life’s most persistent question, and he asked the Tyler councilmen in attendance to stand. Mayor Heines told us about his 14-year old daughter who already wants to do service. She attends a sports school in Florida. A third of the school comes from other countries; their soccer team includes kids from China. The Mayor proclaimed that the world interacting together is wonderful globalism. I was happy to see such a prominent local figure give a cheer for globalism in an age of increasingly negative populism. It’s his last year as mayor and he closed by asserting we’re all dream makers that aren’t satisfied by the status quo.
Kids Aspiring to Dream (KATD) took the stage—a group of three kids. They thanked Dr. King and declared we’re not afraid to let our light shine. At least be the best shrub on the side of a hill. Others sacrificed so we could dream. Rise together so we can be a better people and nation.
“Lift Every Voice & Sing” was performed by the Jarvis Christian College choir—a large group with roughly 30 members! Jarvis Christian is an HBCU in nearby Hawkins, Texas. That song is considered the National Black Anthem.
Now it was time for the introduction of the speaker by Kenneth Cobb. He hopes that the program inspires, even if it’s just one. We hope you make it and tell us how you did it.
Keynote Speaker: Mrs. Sha’Rell Webb–Education Specialist, Lunar & Planetary Institute.
Sha’Rell Webb overcame a tragic childhood to become a leading science educator. She was adopted at the age of two by her aunt and uncle because her Mom was and is hooked on crack cocaine. She completed high school in Houston, becoming a dental assistant while there and wanted to become a nurse. Mrs. Webb won an academic field trip to California and $75, 000 in grants. She graduated from Jarvis Christian College and became a science teacher. While at Jarvis, she attempted suicide twice but got well.
At times, Mrs. Webb cried a little during her speech and got the crowd to shout with her, “Only in the darkness can you see the stars,” the theme of the 2020 MLK Program. She taught at Stewart Elementary in Tyler ISD. Her goal was to make science “fun but relatable…culturally relevant.” She believes Black kids are “underestimated and under-represented.” She founded Coding with a Twist—a computer science, coding, and robotics program. Now she works for NASA in Houston at the Lunar and Planetary Institute. Kids that don’t speak might make something. What you do now makes a difference for later. Webb stressed the importance of having dignity, being the best you can be, and commitment to beauty, love, and justice.
Closing
Reverend Jerome Milton started the MLK program in Tyler 34 years ago. He’s another Jarvis Christian College graduate. Now the program is sponsored by the Tyler Together Race Relations Program (TTRRF). Jeff Williams, the TTRF President, spoke as well. We need to build bridges to get out of our comfort zones. We may have come here on different ships but we’re in the same boat now. Father Matt Boulter of Christ Church did the Benediction.
bohemiotx 