Capacity crowd attends King breakfast
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| The Middlesex Chapter of the NAACP held a celebration in honor of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. on Monday at the Beacon Restaurant in Topping. The keynote speaker was Dr. Marion Tapscott. Pictured above, from left, are Dr. Tapscott; Mark Lomax, president of the Middlesex NAACP; and James Bagby, Freedom Fund Chairperson for the NAACP. (Photo by Larry Chowning) |
by Larry S. Chowning
“The dreamer is dead, but his dream still lives” was the theme of the message conveyed by Dr. Marion Tapscott at the annual Middlesex NAACP Breakfast/ Celebration of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. on Monday at The Beacon in Topping.
Dr. Tapscott, a former minister of First Baptist Church in Tappahannock, spoke with passion about Dr. King and his efforts to bring civil rights to all people, regardless of race.
“Dr. King is best known for being an iconic figure in the advancement of Civil Rights in the United States and around the world using non-violent methods following the teachings of Mohandas Gandhi and also the teachings of his father, who he called ‘Daddy King,’ and, most importantly, the teaching of Jesus Christ of Nazareth,” said Dr. Tapscott.
In 1957 King became the first president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference and in 1963 his march on Washington, where he delivered his “I Have A Dream” speech, changed forever the way whites and blacks looked at one another, said Dr. Tapscott.
“There he (Dr. King) expanded American values, which included a color-blind society,” he said. “There he also established his reputation as one of the greatest orators in American history.”
In 1964 King became the youngest person to receive the Nobel Peace Prize for his work to end racial discrimination by non-violent means, noted Dr. Tapscott.
By the time of his assassination on April 4, 1968 in Memphis, Tenn., Dr. King had refocused his efforts on ending poverty and stopping the Vietnam War, said Dr. Tapscott. In 1986 Dr. Martin Luther King Day was established as a national holiday and, in 2004, he posthumously received the Congressional Gold Medal.
“Dr. Martin Luther King lived a relatively short life as he was shot and killed at the age of 39,” said Dr. Tapscott. “A short life indeed, but oh, what a major impact he had upon this society and the entire world.
“I only know of one other person who made such an impact and that was Jesus Christ, who lived to be only 33 years old,” he said.
“Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. never took a back seat to anybody,” continued Dr. Tapscott. “He was always out front, fighting, marching and speaking for freedom—not just for black Americans but for all people regardless of race, color or creed.
“Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was the voice of the century… and no vision (of anyone else of his time) more profoundly inspired people from the American South, to Southern Africa, to the Berlin Wall, and to the Great Wall of China,” said Dr. Tapscott.
“His dreams of American moral possibilities expressed a universal hope for mankind that was derived heavily from the Hebrew prophets. His teachings (focused) on Jesus of Nazareth and the non-violent action of India’s Mohandas Gandhi.
“Dr. King’s voice was more than the communication of intellectual ideas and spiritual vision,” continued Dr. Tapscott. “It was a call for action—action which he personally led from the early days of the Montgomery bus boycott in 1955 until his assassination in Memphis in 1968.
“Dr. King spoke with passion and poetry. He proclaimed that justice will prevail. Oh how he could speak! I can just hear his voice from God coming through a life so young. He preached truth that sought to bring all men and women together as brothers and sisters. Truth spoken in love and mercy that believes world conflicts can be reconciled in the power of the human spirit, without resorting to violence.
It was through Dr. King’s efforts that the Civil Rights Act of 1964 was adopted, putting an end to legal segregation in America, noted Dr. Tapscott.
Monday’s celebration ended with the song, “We Shall Overcome,” the non-violent ‘anthem’ of the 1950s and 1960s Civil Rights movement.
