Tag Archives: Martin Luther King Jr.

Kingdom Perspective

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Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

Today I am honored to honor the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., a prophetic voice for the masses, not just black folk but all folk who seek and need to seek human justice for all. Rev. King sought it and fought for it by giving his all, giving his life. I praise God for his selflessness, not cutting corners just so he could say he tried and then seek what was most comfortable for him. When situations get tough, giving up or half doing a job can be tempting. This is the case sometimes with us hard working mamas. I challenge you to read my latest column in EEW Magazine written to help mamas prone to cutting corners to the possible detriment of their children learn to fight for the next generation always with that generation in mind, much like Rev. King did. I salute this great American hero for embodying the Spirit of Christ and fighting to make life better for us all.

My One Thousand Gifts List

#401-410
Little girls with braided, beaded hair enjoying the sounds of it
Being at an Ebenezer AME church basketball game with Joshua supporting by brother as the coach
Seeing the school-aged cheerleaders and having nostalgic moments about my own cheering day
A mom kissing her son (about 12 years old) and his not being embarrassed to kiss her too
My children liking to be around me, even invading my space
Polishing my fingernails
Getting to church on time
Being able to remain in the sanctuary
Having no qualms about saying no when two people tried to recruit me for ministry I know I wasn’t suited for
Pulling together lunch for the family and enough for unexpected guests

Serve Beyond the Gospel Bird

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My mama used to say if she just got to church for one song and the sermon she was good. Not me. I love all of church. In my childhood AME home, I liked looking at the semi-synchronized acolyte, clergy and choir processional and the directions of the white-gloved professionals, ushers orchestrating seating and signaling each other what their next move would be. I loved the singing and the soulful sounds of saints paying tribute to God with prayers and getting happy in the Holy Ghost. And I still like all this and some chicken, the gospel bird, a permanent fixture in the black church kitchen. Though I love these, I am aware of their seducing power and have escaped settling for the comfort of their sounds and smells. Unfortunately, the lure of tradition and chicken has trapped many in the Christian church and that is all they are equipped to serve.

We have forgotten that the basis of the preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ includes telling other people—not the people we sing and sup with but those outside the church. This message starts with the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ—His sacrifice to save the world from their sin—but continues on with the scriptural message to love the lost and found to make this world a better place (Hebrews 12:14; Romans 15:1-3).

This is what Martin Luther King Jr. preached. He saw the ails and lost hope of this world and preached about the love and justice that should be in this world. Some people didn’t get it, may still not get it, but his is the message that still needs to be preached, the message that we Christians still need to preach. It is our message, the gospel message, and made possible through the power of Jesus Christ.

So on this day of service in honor of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., I hope we seek to serve others the gospel message: the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ and the possibility of a changed world through Him.

Copyright 2011 by Rhonda J. Smith

We Shall Overcome Revisited

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It was February 1978 and I was watching newsreels of the Civil Rights Movement in my primary school. At 9, my heart was saddened seeing thunderous water hose and hate-filled blows given to blacks relentless in their fight for freedom. The repeated images moved my heart from sad to mad that one group of people devalued another so much that they sought to keep them down by beating them down. And then I got angry because I was tired of singing “We Shall Overcome.” I remember thinking, “But they didn’t overcome. That song didn’t work. Can we sing a new song? One that works?”

Even though these thoughts flowed freely in my mind, I didn’t know how to verbalize them, at least not in a respectful way to Mrs. Clark, my pretty black teacher who carved confidence in us; to Mrs. Kraus, my Jewish music teacher who cultivated cultural sensitivity in us; or Mr. Mack, my white principal who was kind to all us kids in a non-patronizing way. So at 9, I had my own protest by refusing to sing “We Shall Overcome” another time. Not when Mrs. Kraus prompted us to join in with the armed-clutch crowd rocking back and forth on the newsreel, not in church after the pastor asked us to have a silent moment, and not during any other program looking back on the Civil Right Movement. That is not until last night during a live performance of jazz bassist Christian McBride’s The Movement Revisited: A Jazz Opus in Detroit.

Christian McBride


A lover of jazz and gospel music, McBride masterfully blended two of my favorite genres with a jazz orchestra and a church choir and infused the music with narrations of speeches to commemorate the lives of civil rights icons Martin Luther King, Jr., Malcolm X, Rosa Parks and Muhammad Ali. To add to that, one of my sheroes, Sonia Sanchez, read the part of Rosa Parks. I feasted on great words and music that reverberated my being. The Second Ebenezer Majestic Voices opened by singing “This May Be My Last Time” as jazz rifts infiltrated the vocal proclamation. Second, an 18-year-old high school student eloquently read Dr. King’s opening address to the 1964 Berlin Jazz Festival:

“Jazz speaks for life. Much of the power of our Freedom Movement in the United States has come from this music. It has strengthened us with its sweet rhythms when courage began to fail. It has calmed us with its rich harmonies when spirits were down.”

When I heard King’s statement about jazz and considered how it and some gospel songs make me feel like I can move mountains, I knew why the freedom fighters kept singing “We Shall Overcome.” This was a song of faith, declaring that even if they didn’t see come to pass what they were fighting for, they would continue to fight so that following generations could be free to be who God created them to be. So, third, when the Detroit church choir sang an upbeat “We Shall Overcome” with the jazz infusion, I proudly sang along knowing the power of the song and how it in fact had worked.

I had a glorious night, and was glad Christian McBride and the Detroit International Jazz Festival had brought this opus to Detroit. I’ve always liked McBride, but now he is one of my heroes for using the amazing gift of musical composition that God has given him to inspire us all to continue to fight for human rights.

Copyright 2010 by Rhonda J. Smith

Serve the KINGdom

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Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

Today has been deemed a day of service, the third Monday in January celebrating the life of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. This U.S. holiday is to honor the man who gave his life speaking truth to humanity to break the bonds of wickedness wherever he found them. It was his speaking out—from the pulpit or a podium or the pages of a letter, that challenged established ways and spurred us on for the betterment of us all. His speeches, leadership and organizing more than four decades ago still resonate to this day. Let’s move from reflection upon this great life to action to honor this great life. Serve someone today. Contribute to equity for all, whether you give money to a Haitian relief effort, serve food at a soup kitchen, speak against government injustice or change your mind to love. Serve someone today. But don’t just serve today.

As Christians, serving should be a regular part of our lives. We serve the greatest man to have ever walked this earth, and He is the King we honor above all: Jesus Christ. Our King told us to love God and to love our neighbor as ourselves. These commandments should be the driving force of our lives and make it our obligation to serve others just as Dr. King and our King gave their lives to do. Give yourself and make life better for us all. Serve always for Christ and His Kingdom.

Copyright 2010 by Rhonda J. Smith

Dream to Reality

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martin-luther-king-jrpresident-obama
I’ve been dreaming, as many people have on this Martin Luther King Jr. holiday, of a better nation. And, on the eve of the most historic day in racial history and of the presidency in the United States, I encourage us all to engage in new conversations about race.

Our 44th President, Mr. Barack Obama, has invited the nation to talk to him about race. And as a recovering strong black woman, I continue to encourage talk about the racial aspect of being a strong black woman. Let’s continue to have the old conversations about other oppression (like institutionalized racism) because those conversations are never finished. But I want us to talk about what many have relegated as our dirty laundry. Stuff like us having inherent strength because we are black or that we are better than others because of all we have been able to do with little time and resources. Let’s get our racial views about ourselves out in the open, assess where we are and where we need to go so that we become a better spiritual nation, the kingdom of God full of women fighting to be who He wants us to be.

Copyright 2009 By Rhonda J. Smith