MLK Honored at heritage meeting

On Dec. 1, 1955, Rosa Parks was arrested in Montgomery, Ala., for the crime of not moving to the back of the bus. It was her arrest that triggered the emergence of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

King, who at the time had just graduated a few months prior with a Ph. D. in systematic theology, led a boycott of the Montgomery bus system which lasted 385 days. His house was bombed and he was arrested, which led to a United States District Court ruling that ended racial segregation of all public buses in Montgomery. His role in this historic boycott transformed him into a national figure as the best known civil rights activists.

Speaking on Saturday, Jan. 25 at the annual Linden Heritage Foundation’s annual meeting, Malthus Northcutt spoke to those in attendance about the life and times of King, the struggles he faced, and the lasting impact he has had. Indeed King was a man of faith who helped advance civil rights through civil disobedience and nonviolent protests. It was because of his use of peaceful protests that in Oct. 1964 he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.

On April 3, 1968, King gave his Mountaintop speech, in which he called for unity, boycotts, economic actions, and nonviolent protests following years of poor pay and dangerous working conditions for Memphis, Tenn. sanitation workers. The following day, on April 4, 1968, at 6:01 p.m. King was shot and killed by James Earl Ray.

Northcutt also reminded the audience that those under sixty do not remember segregation and racial inequalities that King peacefully fought to end. He had a dream of equality for all and that all shall be judged by the content of their character.