BY HILLARY VIDERS
SPECIAL TO NORTHERN VALLEY PRESS
ENGLEWOOD, N.J.—The weather on Monday morning, Jan. 21, was brutal and then some. By 9 a.m., temperatures had dipped to 15 degrees below zero and a biting wind made the gathering assembled at City Hall on Van Brunt Street feel like an Arctic expedition.
But Englewood’s annual Martin Luther King Jr. Day march still took place, thanks to a group of dedicated dignitaries and residents. The spirit of the occasion inspired the two dozen marchers, who were led by the senior pastor of the Ebenezer Baptist Church, Rev. Preston E. Thompson, Jr..
Bundled up, the group prepared to march through the streets of Englewood to the Ebenezer Baptist Church on 4th Street, where there was a warm and moving tribute to Dr. King.
Before the march began, Rev. Thompson thanked everyone for coming, including Mayor Michael Wildes, Bergen County Clerk John Hogan, Councilman Michael Cohen and his son Jesse, Councilwoman Katharine Glynn, Bergen County Freeholder Mary Amoroso, former Councilman Scott Reddin, Capt. Gregory Halstead, and Rabbi Chaim Poupko from Congregation Ahavath Torah.
With great enthusiasm, Rev. Thompson announced, “Dr. King’s dream was a powerful dream, and this year he would have been 90 years old. Fifty-one years after his death, his dream is still not a reality and so we still have work to do. I charge each and every one of us to take hold of his dream and work to make it a reality, to bring unity across racial, religious and economic lines. When we do this, we all rise together!”
Wildes then addressed the marchers.
“We had the honor to have Martin Luther King visit Englewood in another generation. Years later, another mayor honored Rosa Parks, and I had the privilege to present many keys to the city of Englewood to the Tuskegee Airmen, heroes who either sat or stood up for our country at a time when our country did not stand for them. Even though it is cold today, I still have a warm spot when I hear Dr. King’s name. It reminds me of the potential, the valor, the dignity and that sense of excellence that he wrote from jail. He lived in a spirit of non-violence and that spirit projects now as we fight issues now like walls when we should be building bridges. Today reminds us that even if it is cold, if we warm to the right tenets and walk together in the right direction together, Jew and Christian, black and white, rich and poor, Democrat and Republican, that there is more that brings us together than divides us.”
At 11 a.m., Rev. Thompson and the marchers were joined in the church by several hundred members and special guests. The elected officials who had marched were joined by Bergen County Sheriff Anthony Cureton, Councilman Wayne Hamer, NAACP President Jeff Carter, Police Chief Lawrence Suffern, Leon Wildes, City Manager Ed Hynes, Freeholder David Ganz, several pastors from other
Englewood churches and guest speaker Michael Carrion.
The theme of the event at Ebenezer Baptist Church was “Cry Loud, Spare Not: A Prophetic Cry for Justice,” echoing Dr. King’s struggle for civil rights and racial equality. A large banner that read “Faith Forward” was a backdrop for the dais where dignitaries were seated.
The service included responsive readings and vocal selections by the Ebenezer Baptist Church choir and by the St. Paul’s Choir School as well as speeches by Mayor Wildes, Rev. Thompson and Rev. Carrion.
Guest Speaker Rev. Dr. Michael Carrion is the senior pastor and general overseer of the Promised Land Covenant Churches located in the North and South Bronx. His powerhouse delivery, full of energy and drama, galvanized the audience. He recalled that fateful day in Memphis—April 4, 1968—when the iconic civil rights leader and Nobel Peace Prize winner was shot while supporting a sanitation workers’ strike.
Carrion’s voice thundered as he implored people to “stop the madness,” referring to laws and prejudices that imprison people. At one point, he shouted, “Enough is enough is enough is enough!” and people stood and cheered. Rev. Carrion urged people to “Follow the good of the Lord,” and to come together as one people, regardless of race or religion.
It is ironic that in the last speech Dr. King delivered, in the Washington National Cathedral on March 31, he proclaimed that he had “been to the mountaintop,” that he had “seen the Promised Land and that he and his people would be “free at last.”
Legislation signed in 1983 marked the birthday of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. a federal holiday. In 1994, Congress designated the Martin Luther King Jr. Federal Holiday as a national day of service and charged the Corporation for National and Community Service with leading this effort.
As such, in addition to the many church tributes to Martin Luther King this past week, a number of community service projects took place throughout New Jersey. Some 400 students from Bergen County schools spent time discussing racial equality and performing tasks at Bergen Community under the guidance of We the People, a nonprofit organization founded by Freeholder Tracy Zur. They put together blankets, hygiene kits and stuffed toys for people in need of comfort. They were joined by Attorney General Gurbir Grewal, Bergen County Executive Jim Tedesco and U.S. Rep. Josh Gottheimer and other officials.
In Englewood, teens helped paint and make repairs at the SESCIL senior center, and the Center For Food Action held its MLK Service Day at locations in Englewood and Paramus, where 243 children and adults prepared 2200 weekend snack packs for children receiving free and reduced lunches at 14 schools in Bergen County.
This outpouring of compassion demonstrates that the message of Dr. King is kept alive. Each year, King’s message empowers individuals, strengthens communities, bridges barriers, creates solutions to social problems, and moves us closer to his vision of a “beloved community.”
CORRECTION: A version of this article that appeared in the print edition misidentified Rev. Preston E. Thompson, Jr. as Rev. Lester Taylor, Jr.