Photo By Terrance Bell | Members of the Logistics Noncommissioned Officers Academy, Army Logistics University,...... read more read more
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FORT LEE, Va. (Jan. 19, 2017) -- Before the guest speaker took the stage during the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Observance at the Lee Theater Jan. 12, black and white images of America’s civil rights struggle were flashed on the screen, setting a reflective, pensive mood among the 300 or so attendees.
Retired Sgt. Maj. Rahsan Mitchell’s stirring, abbreviated recitation of King’s “I Have a Dream” speech along with other performances strengthened the solemn undertones of the event honoring the leader of the modern American civil rights movement.
The guest speaker, Claiborne Douglass Haughton Jr., a disabled, retired civil servant who concluded his 35-year career as Acting Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Equal Opportunity, changed the atmosphere considerably. Using his booming voice, wit and comedy, he generated laughs and a sense of comfort among audience members. The connection allowed a smooth transition into emphasizing King’s legacy as an activist, religious leader and skilled orator.
“Dr. King was able to articulate to white Americans what African Americans wanted and to African Americans what was to be expected when freedom’s prize was won …,” he said.
King and his movement were largely responsible for the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights of 1965, as well as pieces of legislation signed under President Lyndon B. Johnson that ensured rights and freedoms that had eluded black people but included all people.
Haughton, while noting King was impatient with the pace of progress, praised the clergyman as someone who nevertheless rejected violence as a means to an end.
“Inspired by the non-violent movement in India by Mahatmas Gandhi, he fueled Gandhi’s non-violent tactics with religious principles of unconditional love and forgiveness, even for (his) adversaries,” he said.
King endured hundreds of death threats to himself and his family, was arrested during demonstrations and withstood the vitriol of his opponents, yet he persisted.
“He was frustrated at times,” said Haughton. “He faced harm and injury before angry mobs; police dogs and firehoses; he was maligned and beaten … yet he never stopped preaching and practicing nonviolence.”
King was assassinated on April 4, 1968, in Memphis, Tenn..
“The man was shot down but not his dream,” said Haughton, “a dream that was more powerful than his life and stronger than his death.”
King’s contributions to the advancement of civil and human rights in American society is undisputable, said Haughton. Since 1963 – the year King made his “I Have a Dream” speech – black college graduation rates are up, the black middle class has increased and the number of African-American elected officials has multiplied. The latter set the stage for the election in 2008 of Barack Obama, the country’s first African-American president.
“He is one of the most consequential presidents in (American history),” noted Haughton.
Near the end of his speech, Haughton said King’s “Dream” has not been fully realized, pointing out disproportionate rates of incarceration of African Americans and widening gaps in educational and job opportunities.
The King national holiday coincides with King’s birthday, Jan. 15. It was signed into law in 1983, and promotes the theme “Remember! Celebrate! Act! A Day On, Not a Day Off.”
Haughton said he is a beneficiary of King’s lifework. Afflicted with cerebral palsy and blindness in one eye and having spent 12 years in an orphanage, he rose to earn a college degree and worked his way from a GS-5 position to senior executive service.
The co-host for the event, Army Logistics University President Michael K. Williams, provided the opening remarks in which he said King’s commitment is reminiscent of military members and civilians who dedicate themselves to the national security mission.
In addition to Mitchell, the event featured the talents of vocalists Maria Ganues, a post employee who sang the national anthem, and Chief Warrant Officer 4 Jerome Doaty, who performed “MLK, The Man, His Legacy.”
Still further, ALU students, wearing commemorative T-shirts, symbolically locked arms as Ganues sang “His Eye on the Sparrow.”
The MLK Jr. Observance was presented by the ALU and the Defense Contract Management Agency.
| Date Taken: | 01.19.2017 |
| Date Posted: | 01.19.2017 09:59 |
| Story ID: | 220646 |
| Location: | US |
| Web Views: | 40 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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