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A Remembrance for Black History Month

On a mild night in January, I went to the opening evening of the Martin Luther King celebration in Lexington. It’s  a simple service, held annually at the First Baptist Church at the foot of Main Street.

First Baptist Church is one of four churches on Main Street, the only traditionally African American church on the street. A rock quintet known as the MLK Combo opened the evening with a stunning soul rendition of “This Land is Your Land” – and the words that Woody Guthrie wrote from the depths of the Depression for the disenfranchised workers of this country took on new meaning.

The service then moved on to the reading, in sections, of King’s “I Have a Dream” speech, interwoven with music  by three a cappella groups from Washington and Lee University. The event at First Baptist takes place each year against the background of an ongoing argument about this small city’s history. Most recently, the debate has led to the removal of replica Confederate flags from the Lee Chapel on Washington & Lee’s campus. The weekend of Martin Luther King Day is also historically the weekend of Lee-Jackson Day, a Virginia state holiday. Banners across Lexington’s Main Street announced lectures on the Civil War, sponsored by the Sons of Confederate Veterans, as well as the Martin Luther King Remembrance Concert sponsored by Washington & Lee.

Before the reading that evening, before the a cappella renditions of “Find the Cost of Freedom” and “Nearer My God to Thee,”  the whole congregation got to its feet, singing “We Shall Overcome.”

As we began to sing, an African-American woman sitting across from me stepped into the aisle and held out her hand. I stepped into the aisle and took her hand in mine, then reached to my right and took my friend’s hand. Everyone around us and behind us joined hands, and we sang, “Deep in my heart, I do believe …”

And we sat down and listened to the words of Dr. King: 

I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: “We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal.”

I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.

I have a dream today.

I know his dream still holds unfulfilled promise, and until his message is as present in the media and in our minds as are the scandals on college campuses or the gridlock in Congress, his work — and ours — is not done.

Meanwhile, I thank my neighbor across the aisle, for holding out her hand.

For more information about Lisa Tracy and her work, visit her website.

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