'Reason for the dream': First Baptist Church in Desert Hot Springs celebrates MLK's legacy

Freedom and courage were the main topics Monday afternoon at First Baptist Community Church in Desert Hot Springs, where at least 50 people congregated to celebrate the legacy of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. on the federal holiday bearing his name.

"Ask yourself, what is the real reason for the dream?" Jarvis Crawford, president of the Palm Springs Black History Committee said. "The reason for the dream should be a thought you should continue to have — not just today because it is Martin Luther King Day," he said, who went on to say that it also should be considered as a day of service.

Observed federally since 1986, the holiday occurs on the third Monday each January — a day that happened to fall on King's actual birthday this year. Born in 1929, the late civil rights leader was assassinated in 1968. He would have been 95. This year also marks the 60th anniversary of King being awarded the Nobel Peace Prize and the passage of the landmark Civil Rights Act.

The celebration featured a choral arrangement by Moreno Valley's Enhance the Gift Visual and Performing Arts Academy, a group of four teenagers who sang stunning treatments of "Press Toward the Mark" and "Press On in Faith. Three of the church's praise dancers also offered a liturgical and rhythmic performance — an artistic expression of their faith.

Rep. Raúl Ruiz, who spoke at the service, drew parallels to the attack on the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021 and did not mince words, adding that "there is a concerted effort to weaken the progress many before us had made in the civil rights movement."

He advised the audience to put their energy into policy to extinguish the injustices and inequities that King spoke out against as they relate to the Coachella Valley — from access to health care to the disenfranchisement of voters.

"To keep Dr. King's legacy alive," Ruiz said, "we must stand up to hate and white supremacy and the systemic racism and white nationalism that continues to plague our nation. And we must carry on his spirit in our hearts and enact his vision of love, fairness, democracy and create that beloved community."

Ruiz then presented Pastor James Baylark with a certificate of Congressional recognition for the First Community Baptist Church and for his leadership.

In his keynote speech, Crawford discussed how King, inspired by Gandhi's nonviolence resistance, held the conviction that peaceful and strategic protests could result in sympathetic media attention. This belief proved correct when acts of violence against civil rights activists, broadcast nationwide, elicited widespread outrage.

"Had it not been televised," Crawford said, "we wouldn't have been able to say that it happened."

Crawford asked those in attendance to reflect on their own "reasons for the dream," alluding to King's iconic "I Have a Dream" speech, delivered in 1963 as part of the March on Washington from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C.

"No more fear," called out a parishioner. Another said: "So white folks, like me, can say, 'You are my equal and you always have been.'"

"Our reason for the dream was to make sure that today isn't just for one race," Crawford said, "Look around, we see white folks, Black folks, we see Latinos. We are all up in this church together ... using all that energy to do something positive."

The event was also attended by Desert Hot Springs council members, Gary Gardner and Jan Pye, as well as Indio Councilmember Waymond Fermon — who formerly served as Indio's first Black mayor and is now vying to represent Assembly District 36, which includes Coachella, Indio, all of Imperial County and a sliver of eastern San Bernardino County.

Observing some young attendees in the audience, Crawford pointed out another key motivation behind the dream: "to show the next generation that we can do better on treating all people equally and equitably," he said. "As we continue to celebrate the life of Martin Luther King, let's continue working on turning the dream into a reality."

Jennifer Cortez covers education in the Coachella Valley. Reach her at jennifer.cortez@desertsun.com.

This article originally appeared on Palm Springs Desert Sun: 'Reason for the dream': First Baptist Church celebrates MLK's legacy