'Realizing the Dream': Reflecting on King's modern influence

Amanda M. Usher, The Valdosta Daily Times, Ga.
·2 min read

Apr. 4—VALDOSTA — Minister Adrian Rivers stood at the heart of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Park and spoke about the civil rights leader's dream to community members and dignitaries last week.

The annual program honoring King was sponsored by the Valdosta-Lowndes County Martin Luther King Jr. Commemorative Association Committee.

Valdosta Police Chief Leslie Manahan, Valdosta Fire Chief Brian Boutwell, Valdosta City Council members, Lowndes County Commission Chairman Bill Slaughter, Valdosta Mayor Scott James Matheson and others watched as Rivers gave his keynote speech, "Realizing the Dream."

"It's so funny that we now, in a way, live as if the civil rights movement was 100 years ago," Rivers said to the small crowd.

He compared the Voting Rights Act of 1965 to modern voting laws saying the 1965 act is not too far from modern society.

"In less than 56 years later, we're continuing to have the same conversations that we were having during the civil rights movement," he said. "Fifty-six years later, we're still fighting for voting rights and we're still working to make sure that everyone has a job and we're still working to make sure that everyone is treated fairly."

Rivers said realizing King's dream means not ignoring issues, such as division within communities. To come to a realization means the facts must be stated, he said.

He gave systemic racism and voter suppression as examples of facts to be realized.

He touched on the Minneapolis, Minn., murder trial where former police officer Derek Chauvin is on trial for the May 2020 death of George Floyd, a 46-year-old Black man. He spoke of state Senate Bill 202 recently signed into law by Gov. Brian Kemp.

"When we talk about Dr. King, Dr. King was not a person that danced around the issue," Rivers said.

He urged the audience to commemorate King's life and legacy by supporting beliefs with action, being courageous and being involved.

He concluded his speech with King's famous words: "Free at last, free at last. Thank God Almighty, I am free at last."

The MLK program also included gospel songs, a praise dance by Kayla Calloway and an invocation from Minister Elsie Napier.

The event commemorated the anniversary of King's assassination. On April 4, 1968, he died by an assassin's bullet on a hotel balcony in Memphis, Tenn.