MLK dream lives on
by David L. Teibel on Jan. 21, 2008, under LocalHis peaceful efforts at uniting America recalled at interfaith service
Daniela Barrett, 14, performs with other members of the Mount Calvary Soldiers for Christ Children's Choir on Sunday during the 22nd annual MLK Jr. Interfaith Commemorative Service at Temple Emanu-El.
The Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. devoted his adult life to a fight for racial and ethnic equality.
In the end he gave his life at age 39, assassinated in April 1968 as he stood with other civil rights workers on the balcony of his motel room in Memphis, Tenn.
At 6 p.m. Sunday, people of all colors and various ethnicities gathered at Temple Emanu-El, 225 N. Country Club Road, to speak in memory of King and his dream of a peaceful revolution that would lead to racial equality in America.
“Martin Luther King is a hero for all Americans, including Muslim Americans,” said Basheer Shahin of the Islamic Center of Tucson.
“Thank you, God, for delivering to us a leader like Martin Luther King,” Shahin said to the some 90 people at the service.
Looking out across a gathering of people representing blacks, Hispanics, Christians, Muslims, Hindus, a Sikh Dharma and Jews, Shahin said, “We are a spectrum of colors.”
“The legacy of Martin Luther King still lives on . . . we are reaping the legacy of his way,” Shahin said.
“Dr. King was a righteous man,” Shahin said, “because he did good things, he did righteous things.”
Speaking of oppression and slavery that is at the heart of the Jewish tradition, Temple Emanu-El’s senior rabbi, Samuel M. Cohon, said, “We need to stay awake through all the oppression that remains in our society.”
“We plant the seeds of freedom . . . and respect,” Cohon said. “May this be God’s will.”
“Dr. King followed Mahatma Gandhi in principle and practice,” Anoop Chandola said of the Indian man who fought for Indian freedom from Britain through peaceful, civil disobedience.
“Gandhi used prayers to unite us,” said Chandola, professor emeritus of East Asian Studies at the University of Arizona.
Referring to Gandhi’s freedom marches across India, Chandola said, “In America, remember the famous marches of Dr King.”
Chandola also recited, in Hindi and in English some of Gandhi’s favorite prayers.
The memorial service also included singing and dances by various groups.
James Earl Ray was convicted of assassinating King. Ray died in prison in 1998 of natural causes 70.
Samuel M. Cohon, Temple Emanu-El's senior rabbi, blows the shofar during the 22nd annual MLK Jr. service at Temple Emanu-El.
Natasha Torrejon and Diamonique McCleese were in Monday's King Day Parade.
