Pubdate: Tue, 16 Jan 2001
Source: Richmond Times-Dispatch (VA)
Copyright: 2001 Richmond Newspapers Inc.
Contact:  P.O. Box 85333, Richmond, VA 23293
Fax: (804) 775-8072
Feedback: http://www.gatewayva.com/feedback/totheeditor.shtml
Website: http://www.timesdispatch.com/
Author: Rhea R. Borja

HUNDREDS RECALL VISION FOR EQUALITY

Audience Encouraged To Continue King's Fight

The Youth Celebration Mass Choir provided inspiring entertainment for 
hundreds of people at Henrico High School during yesterday's ceremony 
commemorating Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. (CLEMENT BRITT)

Hundreds of people gathered at an emotional ceremony yesterday to honor and 
remember slain civil rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

People crowded into Henrico High School's gymnasium, many in their Sunday 
finest, to sing gospel tunes, pray and listen to speakers such as former 
Richmond Schools superintendent Lois Harrison-Jones, who urged them to 
continue King's fight for justice and equality.

"We're here not just to renew his memory . . . but to deal with Dr. King's 
unfinished agenda," she said. "We need to fly against the winds of dissent 
and complacency."

Virginia's first black female superintendent, Harrison-Jones is now a 
professor at Howard University in Washington. A controversial figure during 
her three-year Richmond tenure, she is widely considered to have been 
forced out in the late-1980s by a group that included city and school 
officials.

Henrico resident Kemba Smith, whose 241/2-year sentence for conspiring to 
distribute crack cocaine was recently commuted by President Clinton, echoed 
Harrison-Jones' words. Mentioning police brutality and other unfair and 
at-times racist practices, she said, "We need for our community to be 
active. We need to be involved. Freedom is not a gift, as Dr. King would say."

The celebration had the distinct air of a Sunday morning worship service. 
In fact, all of the performers and many of the speakers represented area 
Baptist churches. The strong voices of the Henrico MLK Adult Mass Choir and 
a youth choir rang out, making people tap their feet and sway their bodies. 
Some stood up and clapped in time to the music, and many nodded in 
agreement when one person spoke of King as a "spiritual warrior."

The impact of King's struggle for civil rights on local residents was still 
evident 33 years after his death. Because of King, Henry Johnson 
participated in sit-ins and other nonviolent demonstrations in Richmond in 
the 1960s.

"He preached the ideals of Jesus, and he lived that life," Johnson said.

He also remembers the day King died. Johnson was a teacher at Henrico's 
Virginia Randolph Community High School in April 1968. When he heard the 
announcement that King had been shot, "It was like someone had drove a 
stake through your heart."

Ruth Thaniel, a retired Richmond Schools teacher, recalled listening to 
King speak in 1960 at South Carolina State University, where she was a 
freshman. Fearing for her and their safety, Thaniel's parents told her not 
to participate in any civil rights protests. She agreed.

But after Thaniel heard King speak, she changed her mind. "He was so 
motivating and inspiring that I could not just sit still and just listen," 
she said.

She marched in demonstrations and was arrested, along with many others, for 
trying to integrate a local theater. Thaniel was jailed for five days as a 
result. She recalled seeing the police dogs and fire hoses that were often 
used against demonstrators. "I was so frightened. But I knew it was 
something I just had to do."

The celebration ended with "We Shall Overcome," the hymn that became the 
anthem for the civil rights movement.
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