Priest: MLK’s vision, reality are two different things
By Long HWA-shu Special to The News-Sun January 15, 2012 3:52PM
Cadet Lt. Col. Dennis Nieves of Waukegan High School ROTC talks about how Dr. King has inspired him as Rev. Michale Pfleger looks on at the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. "Dreamer's Breakfast". | Joe Cyganowski ~ For Sun Times Media
REMEMBERING
MARTIN LUTHER KING JR.
GRAYSLAKE
Portrayal: Actress Pamela Welcome will portray Harriet Tubman in honor of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. holiday on Monday at 10 a.m. at the Grayslake Heritage Center & Museum, 164 Hawley St. A good-will donation is appreciated. Details, e-mail doberg@villageofgrayslake.com, call (847) 543-1745.
Volunteers: To celebrate the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., the College of Lake County is seeking up to 250 Lake County volunteers to work on several service projects this coming Sunday. Lake County volunteers will be joined by volunteers across the country. Register at http://clcmlk2012.eventbrite.com/. Details, (847) 543-2058.
KENOSHA
Commemoration: The Rev. Lawrence Kirby, pastor of Second Baptist Church of Kenosha, will be the keynote speaker at the annual commemoration of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day Commemoration on Monday at 5 p.m. at A.F. Siebert Chapel, 2001 Alford Park Drive at Carthage College. Details, (678) 637-3027.
Celebration: The University of Wisconsin-Parkside invites residents to join the celebration of Dr. Martin Luther King’s life and legacy titled “A Message for Every Generation” this coming Saturday at 7 p.m. on campus at 900 Wood Road. Details, (262) 595-2731.
LAKE FOREST
Celebration: Author, filmmaker, and professor M.K. Asante will be the featured speaker at the annual Martin Luther King Jr. free Holiday Program to be held on Monday at 4:30 p.m. at Lily Reid Holt Memorial Chapel, Lake Forest College, 555 N. Sheridan Road. Details, (847) 735-5206.
LAKE ZURICH
Celebration: A celebration of Martin Luther King Jr. day, “Living The Legacy,” with keynote speakers Rev. Dr. Stephen Ray Jr. and the Rev. Dr. Ozzie Smith Jr., will be held on Monday from 10 a.m. to noon at St. Peter United Church of Christ, 47 Church St. Details, (847) 438-6441.
NORTH CHICAGO
Program: A Martin Luther King Jr. program including a craft and story hour will be held this coming Sunday from 1-3 p.m. at North Chicago Public Library, 2100 Argonne Drive. Details, (847) 689-0125.
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Updated: February 17, 2012 8:06AM
Father Michael Pfleger, the outspoken Catholic priest from Chicago, said Saturday that Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s dream has remained “a promissory note with insufficient funds” because his followers have failed to follow through with that dream.
Speaking at the annual “Remembering the Dream” event sponsored by Waukegan Township at Bonnie Brook Golf Course in Waukegan, he said much needs to be done before King’s vision can be realized. He cited the continuing racial discrimination, injustice, poverty and violence in America.
Pfleger, a popular priest in Chicago’s African-American community, faulted King’s followers for paying all but lip service to his vision.
“For years, the greatest disrespect to Dr. King was the once-a-year series of events to remember him,” he said. After that, it is business as usual.
Pfleger, pastor of St. Sabina Catholic Church in Chicago, pointed to attempts to redefine King, to steal his identity and to alter his dream, which all but made him “the flower child of the ’60s.” He called these attempts “distractions from reality.”
America, he said, cannot be the greatest country in the world if there are homeless people living under the viaduct in Chicago.
For people who live in a house, snow may be beautiful. But for those living under the viaduct, “snow is their blanket,” he said.
“We have to care for everybody and those who are the most vulnerable,” said the much-honored and often defiant and controversial priest.
As he spoke, snow flakes began to fall. Bonnie Brook’s banquet room was packed to its 250-seat capacity. The overflow of another 50 participants was seated in another room where they watched the program via television sets.
Companies, he said, all have lobbyists in congress to promote their interests. The poor have none and their welfare has long been delegated to the church. But churches, in their effort to become mega, Fortune 500 businesses, are “just too busy.”
In his wide-ranging speech, Father Pfleger, often raising his voice, said America can never be a great country if it cannot fix such issues as education, health, injustice and violence. He warned failing to solve them would allow a class divide to develop. “In our self-denial, we’ve self-destructed ourselves,” he said.
America, he reiterated, cannot be a world leader if “not everyone is entitled to health care.”
Pfleger, who received his master of divinity from the University of St. Mary of the Lake in Mundelein, was accorded deafening ovations repeatedly by the mesmerized audience.
Turning to school integration, he said, instead busing the children across town, “We should have bused the money, the resources.”
Dr. King, he reminded his audience, never called himself a civil rights leader but a man of God. He referred to his civil-rights movement as “God’s movement.” His teachings were based on love.
“Love is stronger than hatred. Love is more powerful than weapons,” Pfleger preached, pointing out that when King marched through Marquette Park in Chicago in 1966, he was spit on and had rocks thrown at him. He never showed hatred.
America, he said, has the potential to be the greatest country if “first we repent, reconcile and continue to struggle to ensure that every man, woman and child is assured their rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.”
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