Walking to Memphis
An Atlanta man treks through Polk County on the way to Tennessee in remembrance of Dr. King’s mission to end poverty.
Along a stretch of the four lane blacktop of Highway 278 in Cedartown, a man walked along with a small group trailing behind on a windy and brisk day in Polk County. He was only passing through at week’s end, moving steadily along one step at a time with the goal to raise awareness about the need for unity in America, and spreading the word from town to town about his mission to help end poverty and homelessness in communities across the country.
That’s Terence Lester’s hope in a journey he’s taking from downtown Atlanta to downtown Memphis this month, which is set to culminate with his arrival on the 50th anniversary of the death of the champion of equality and civil rights in the United States, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
Lester first and foremast is making his walk to remind people the work that Dr. King started to end strife between people and tackle real problems like poverty across the country remains a big goal for all that can still be achieved if only everyone worked together.
“We live in a very divisive society right now, and before Dr. King died everything he did was centered around nonviolence and bringing people together,” Lester said. “One of his stances he was taking was against poverty — poverty of Native Americans, poverty of African Americans, poverty of whites and Hispanics. He was taking a stand for anyone facing that issue.”
Lester’s goal is to use his feet and his determination to further spread Dr. King’s message of the whole of society working together to ensure everyone can reach their potential and isn’t forced to go without. He and his wife Cecelia run Love Beyond Walls, an Atlanta nonprofit focused on providing services and reaching out to those who are homeless in the metro area. They began working on homeless outreach and donations on Auburn Avenue in 2004. Inspiration to help those suffering started with his own upbringing. He grew up with his mother and sister in humble beginnings, but was taught from early on that people can achieve if they continue to work toward their goals, like his own mother did through her struggle to make ends meet.
“She went on to get her PhD in counseling, so she became one of my heroes,” Lester said. “When I look to her model of fighting to overcome, and those issues that keep you down, I wanted to use that in my life and model that where I’m not using my degrees to help myself, but I wanted to use my education to empower those people in a situation that they are in.”
Faith also drives Lester forward in his fight for the end of poverty, with the example that Jesus provides in the Holy Bible as an additional inspiration to continue forward.
To really gain a full understanding of what those he helps face on a daily basis, Lester went onto experience life on the streets to better understand the plight of a population forced to live in many cases without shelter or support when they formalized the organization in 2013.
Two years ago, Lester walked from Atlanta to Washington, D.C. to bring awareness to the homeless population and helping them overcome poverty. Now several days into his journey to Memphis, Lester has trekked through Polk County and onward to the Alabama border with the goal in mind to make it to the Lorraine Motel by the anniversary date of when Dr. King was shot down by April 4, 1968 by James Earl Ray,