‘It’s a mandate’
As new King statue unveiled, there are renewed calls for peace around world
Bernice King and others highlighted the message of peace that her father, the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., promoted as a statue of him was unveiled in Atlanta on Saturday. But there was also a prevailing theme among speakers at the event that the work to pursue peace is still far from being finished.
The statue of King was unveiled at Rodney Cook Sr. Peace Park in Atlanta’s Vine City neighborhood during an event titled World Peace Revival. The statue, which depicts the civil rights leader in windswept minister’s robes with an open Bible in one hand as he stands on a mountaintop — inspired by King’s final speech — was sponsored by Clyde and Sandra Strickland.
As much as their was praise for King’s work in the Civil Rights arena, it was the message of peace, and how King promoted it, that dominated the message at the event. King did earn the Nobel Prize for Peace after all.
“If we want to see peace in our world, in our nation, in our state and in our city, in the suites and in the streets, then we will have to commit to the work of justice, which means being inclusionary, even in our decision-making,” Bernice King said.
“We are called upon to move beyond mere aspirations and recitations of peace, from the suites to the streets.”
The two-hour ceremony was as much a religious experience — with prayers, praise for God, and worship music — as it was a statue unveiling. Hours before the event began, storms had moved through the area, but as the ceremony got underway, the clouds parted and sky cleared as the sun shone down on attendees.
As he addressed attendees, Clyde Strickland called the gathering a revival and evoked the spirit and energy of a preacher while talking about peace.
“The spirit spoke to me, yeah God spoke to me, and said ‘World Peace Revival,’ and that’s how the World Peace Revival got started,” he said. “God spoke to me and then I spoke to all of you.
“And, that’s what we’ve got to do. Every person here
knows 10 people, knows 20 people, knows 100 people, 1,000 people. Well, spread the word about peace and love and unity, and quit pussyfootin’ around. We are his people. We are his disciples.”
Sandra Strickland said she finds peace in reading the Bible and recited a small portion of the song, “Let Their Be Peace on Earth.”
“One of my favorite songs, which I will not sing for you, but I will read one sentence — ‘Let there be peace on Earth, and let it begin with me,’ and you,” she said. “We are the ones that will come together and bring peace to this great world.”
And, that was the prevailing mood among participants in the ceremony.
The sense was that peace in the world remains an elusive goal despite generations of people professing to want it. There were comments that seemingly referred to the ongoing conflict between Russia and the Ukraine, although it was never specifically mentioned by name.
There was a call for ordinary people to take up the pursuit of peace rather than leave it to heads of state and other government officials to tackle.
“Do you know what’s wrong with the world?” Clyde Strickland asked. “It ain’t the sinners. It’s the Christians. We’ve been sitting on our butts
for 60 years and letting the devil take over our country and the world, and I think (we’ve been) doing nothing.
“We’re worried about bricks and mortars, and the evil is taking over the world. Get out of your comfort zone and get your butt out and get to work.”
Ambassador Andrew Young, who worked with Martin Luther King Jr., said the statue of King is a symbol of work left to do to pursue peace. He said Atlanta has to be the leader in those efforts by being inclusive.
“What this says to me is we have a lot more to do,” Young said. “And, we have a lot more to do, not just to prettify the city, but to symbolize what this city stands for and what this city is trying to say to the rest of the planet.
“I don’t think we will waiver in that leadership role, and you’re being able to brave the rains and the storms and the typhoons and the heat for this celebration lets me know we have the kind of people that are going to keep on keeping on. Dr. King’s dream is not just a dream. It’s a mandate and we will live up to that mandate.”
Rodney Cook Jr., the son of the peace park’s namesake, said the park will eventually become an epicenter of the peace movement. The home that Martin Luther King Jr. moved into with his family, shortly before he was killed in Memphis in 1968, is located across the street and will be turned into a museum.
A global peace institute and peace pantheon will be located at the park as well, with seven peace-driven organizations signed on to come there.
“This park will serve as a magnificent example that peace and nonviolence are still the answer now more than ever,” Cook said.
Bernice King, who leads the Martin Luther King Jr. Center for Nonviolent Social Change, better known as The King Center, said the notion that people call for peace but do nothing to bring it to fruition was something her father noted in the 1960’s.
“As my father said, it does not take the sharpest mind and sophistication to discern that while everybody talks about peace, peace has practically become nobody’s business among power wielders,” King said. “Many men, he went on to say, cry peace, but they refuse to do the things that make for peace.”
King also explained that, when people chant, “No justice, no peace,” at protests today, it is because of the sense that justice and peace are deeply linked. That sense is descended from how, she said, her father advocated for peace and the role that the pursuit of justice played in those efforts.
“As a peacemaker, he advocated for nonviolence as the means to create lasting peace,” King said. “And, for him, peace was more than a state of harmony and tensionlessness. In fact, nonviolence as taught and lived by him called for creative tension in the face of intransigence and persistent injustice.
“He believed that any call, or calls, for peace which focuses on getting rid of tension was what he called a negative peace. We should be reminded that he said true peace is not merely the absence of tension, but it is the presence of justice. At the same time, he reminded us that injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.”
In addition to the statue unveiling, Bernice King and officials from presented “Legacy Awards” to a diverse group of eight people who were recognized for their work in various fields, ranging from schools, to the arts, to community outreach, to philanthropy, and the healthcare profession.