FLATLANDS — Dorene Allman said she remembers watching Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s funeral procession on television in April 1968. She was 11 at the time.
“I saw his wife, Coretta Scott King,” she recalled. “She was holding the hand of their youngest, Bernice, who followed in his footsteps as a pastor.”
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Allman, now a parishioner of St. Martin de Porres Parish in Bedford-Stuyvesant, was one of many who came to St. Thomas Aquinas Church on Jan. 19 to attend the diocese’s Mass honoring King’s legacy.
Organized by the diocese’s Vicariate Office of Black Catholic Concerns, the Mass is the diocese’s official celebration of Martin Luther King Jr. Day, the federal holiday that celebrates the birthday of the slain civil rights leader.
King, born Jan. 15, 1929, spent much of his adult life leading non-violent protests against racism, and was assassinated in Memphis on April 4, 1968.
With many members of the Vicariate’s Youth Ambassadors in attendance, much of the Mass focused on young people.
The homilist, Father Patrick Winbush, subprior of the Benedictine Monks of Newark Abbey in Newark, urged young people at the Mass to carry forward King’s legacy of working toward peace and justice worldwide.
“You are the future leaders and the agents of change,” he said.
After Mass, Father Winbush told The Tablet that he has always admired King’s courage in standing for the rights of black people in the 1950s and 1960s.
“And some people are doing it today. And some people are afraid to do it,” he added. “And that’s why I was insisting in my homily, especially to our young people, that they have to get out and fight for equality in our country.”
Sitting in her pew, Allman admitted that she was also thinking about young people. “They need to understand the legacy of Dr. King,” said Allman, who attends the Mass annually. “Considering the state of our nation and the world today, I believe the legacy of Dr. King is more important now than ever.”
Bishop Robert Brennan, who celebrated the Mass, called it “a great diocesan celebration,” telling The Tablet that he loves King’s religious message of “peace and working together.”
Much of King’s message of promoting peace, love, and understanding is “so much alive here in Brooklyn and Queens,” where “all of our communities interact with one another,” Bishop Brennan added.
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During his lifetime, King was known as a great orator, and some of those in attendance at the Mass reflected on their favorite King sayings.
Allman pointed to his famous saying, “If you can’t run, walk, and if you can’t walk, crawl,” because of its emphasis on the importance of having the determination to carry on despite whatever obstacles are in one’s path.
For Kayon Johnson, it was his warning that “injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.”
“We’re all God’s people, and we should help each other in the best way we can,” Johnson said. “If we see something happening to our brothers or sisters, we should get involved in helping in any way we can.”
