St. Tammany News

COVINGTON - In speeches offering reminders of the great lessons of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., whose birthday was celebrated Monday, local pastors and civic leaders spoke about love and human rights due all people.

There was a considerably smaller crowd in attendance this year at both the march that took its annual route and the celebration held inside the Bogue Falaya Hall at the Greater Covington Center, and leaders voiced their concern with the light attendance. Turning Point Ministry was an unexpected void in this year's celebration, however the Covington High School Band heightened spirits by performing the national anthem.

Billy Marigny marches ahead of Covington Councilmen Guy Williams and Matt Faust in the Dr. Martin Luther King Day march through Covington on Monday. (Staff Photo by Leslie Ackel)

Councilman Guy Williams, the event coordinator, said, "We have to step up as adults and neighbors and do what we can to help each other. If all our people were here, we'd fill all the seats in this room."

The Rev. James Winston of Morning Star Baptist Church said his disappointment with low turnout from the African American community would not deter his feelings of reverence for the day set aside to commemorate the civic leader's birthday.

The Rev. Mallory Callahan of Bethel Reform Methodist Church gave the opening prayer, which was followed by a performance by the Imani Steppers, directed by Marion Owens. Following Williams' announcement that the group lost its practice hall to the winds of Hurricane Katrina, the Rev. Alfred N. Young Jr. announced that his church, gymnasium and childcare center would be made available for the dance group's rehearsals.

Covington Mayor Candace Watkins opened her speech confessing that she has recently had to ask King, through prayer, to help her love everyone.

"The message I carry in my heart from Dr. King is to love one another, whether we agree or not," Watkins said.

Local poet Kathy Montana recited her poem titled "I'll Stand," followed by moving spiritual solos by Sister Grace Randle, who, after an emotional deliverance of "I'll Keep On Toiling" that brought the crowd to their feet, continued after being assisted to a chair.

"Love is the solution to all problems in this world," said Jimmy Magee of Mount Zion Pilgrim Missionary Baptist Church in Covington. "We will kill ourselves wherever we carry hate in our heart."

The Rev. Freddie Winston of the Historic St. James Baptist Church of Madisonville introduced guest speaker George Burris, who said that Dr. King cannot be duly celebrated before it is understood that King was a preacher before becoming a civil rights leader.

"We are not on reality island. You cannot dodge hardship," he said. "We, as black men, have been asleep for too long."

He told a story of a time when he and his wife awoke to the sound of a ball bouncing inside his home at 2:30 a.m.

When he arose to survey his home, he found his children playing with matches.

"An angel of glory stomped his foot in my house," he said in an emotional plea for people to follow the teachings of King.

"We've got to get our minds right, put on the right equipment," Burris said. "When God is your commander, you will prosper."

King won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1964 for his work with promoting civil rights.

He was assassinated in Memphis after speaking to a league of sanitation workers in 1968.