A message fit for a King.

Byline: Andrea Damewood The Register-Guard

M a r t i n L u t h e r K i n g J r. D a y

While Martin Luther King Jr. did many awe-inspiring things in his lifetime, the Rev. Walter Fauntroy said his legacy has the potential to inspire even more greatness.

"Though they had killed the dreamer, they had not killed the dream," Fauntroy told a crowd of about 300 at the 21st community celebration of the slain civil rights leader at Northwest Christian College on Monday night.

Fauntroy, one of King's closest allies in the struggle for civil rights and equality, identified five necessities for human happiness that are controlled through religion, politics and racism, causing strife around the world.

"Martin Luther King Jr. understood that either we learn to live together like brothers and sisters on this planet or we will perish as fools," he said, quoting King, who would have been 78 years old Monday. "Never has that message been more relevant than it is today."

To survive, people need access to income, education, health care, housing and justice, Fauntroy said.

Leaders who want to use their God's word to hoard those essentials for their own group have hijacked religion, said Fauntroy, who has been a Baptist minister in Washington, D.C., for 48 years.

Politics also are all about the control and allocation of resources, said the 20-year congressman from the District of Columbia.

"Both Martin Luther King Jr. and I understood that both religion and politics are ministered," joked Fauntroy, who asked to be addressed as "reverend" on the House floor.

The best solution for those who are oppressed continues to be through visiting the ballot box and using King's model of nonviolent protest, he said.

Fauntroy cited the civil rights marches and his public arrest at the South African embassy for protesting apartheid as examples of nonviolence that forced the issues into the public consciousness, causing people to stand up and say "not on my watch."

"Don't tell me that nonviolence ... can't be the answer to the crisis we have in the world today," Fauntroy said to sustained applause.

He charged today's youth with the same mission that his generation fought for.

"Young people, you owe a debt of gratitude to all of these who strived for this dream," he said. "And the best way to pay your debt to the past is to put the future in debt to you."

As people poured out of the center after the two-hour celebration, many said they were inspired to try to live King's dream throughout the year.

"He has brought us so far," said Blake Poole, a senior at Sheldon High School. "He's seen as a great leader, as someone we can look back on and get strength from for the future."

Eugene resident Donella- Elizabeth Alston brought her 10-year-old grandson Daevon to the celebration to cap a whole day spent reflecting on King's influence. She said they discussed Jim Crow laws and civil rights marches during their car ride to the event.

As a lesbian, she said, she doesn't agree with Fauntroy's stance against gay marriage; but as a black woman, she said, she felt the need to attend.

"I didn't want to throw the baby out with the bath water," Alston said, "though there was such a controversy, I'm glad we could talk about it. We're finding ways to do it that are very much in the legacy of Martin Luther King Jr."

The celebration also featured several gospel pieces led by Lois Reynolds, a soloist at the Bethel Temple Faith Ministry.

Lionel Coleman, a community activist, coach and teacher at Thurston High School, accepted the Lane County Martin Luther King Committee Pearl Hill Memorial Award from committee Chairwoman Betty Snowden and Eugene Mayor Kitty Piercy.

"Today, as mayor of Eugene, I recommit myself and our city to civil rights," she said during her speech in Coleman's honor. "It's only a short walk back in history, but there is still much to be done."