“.....And I've looked over. And I've seen the promised land. I may not get there with you. But I want you to know tonight, that we, as a people, will get to the promised land. And I'm happy, tonight. I'm not worried about anything. I'm not fearing any man. Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord.” –Dr. Martin L. King Jr., Mason Temple, Memphis, Tenn.
In Dr. Martin L. King’s speech, “I’ve been to the Mountaintop,” he talked about the promised land, a land he expounded upon in his speech “I Have A Dream.” King preached that he knew he may not see his dream come to fruition.
Monday, Dr. T.D. Hughes, senior pastor of Third Baptist Church in Chicago, Ill. told those in attendance it is up to them to continue to carry out King’s dream at the annual Martin L. King Jr. program held at the Montgomery County Courthouse in Winona.
Hughes preached from the Gospel of Luke where Jesus read the scroll of Isaiah and sat down. Hughes motivated those in attendance and it’s up to them to continue to carry the torch and fight for freedom.
Hughes said Dr. King was wise, resilient and passionate.
“Dr. King was a wise prophet and a passionate prophet. Power and the glory of passion. He knew how to take a lick and keep on ticking. How to be talked about and still stay focused, hated and still continue to be favored. And he was resilient. Resilient means that nothing can stand in your way and you have to be resilient when you have a dream. It may knock you down, but it can’t knock you out.”
He said even though many tried to deter King, when he was faced with opposition he stood in the face of it. Most people, when faced with opposition run.
“When we face opposition, we throw in the towel. We turn the other way. Dr. King took the same hand that was wounded and still healed someone else. The best healer is the wounded.”
He said even though King spoke the words of his dream, it wasn’t his dream yet it was him carrying out God’s dream. “And we ask what his dream was? Dr. King was passionate, wise, resilient. But it wasn’t his dream. You see King’s dream was The King’s dream. God will see to it that the dream become a reality.
Hughes called for those in attendance to not put off things until tomorrow, to act now because tomorrow’s not promised. He said to not wait to begin the fight, do it today.
“Tomorrow might be too late. Only thing you got is today. Yesterday is a cancelled check, tomorrow’s not even a promissory note. King stood in Bishop Charles Mason Temple a 5’7 giant. And y’all didn’t even know he was only 5’7 that’s because he seemed taller than he was, he always looked taller. And he told them something is happening in our world. It was not just for the United States of America but for the world of human solidarity.”
Hughes said it’s up to those present to change the narrative of the things that have been taught and passed down through the years.
“We were taught how to hate each other. Light skin folk hate dark skin folk. Educated black folks don’t like uneducated black folks. I know folks who ain’t been to nobody’s college and got a whole bunch of good sense….Dr. King said ‘Hate can never overcome hate only love can do that.’ What Christ has called us to be. Stay broken, become what the enemy wants us to be. Lock us out. New Jim Crow is mass incarceration.”
He continued, “You can kill a King, but you can’t kill the dream. God will raise up another dream carrier and they’ll have the same dream.”
Hughes said King stood in Mason Temple and told those in attendance that longevity has its place, and he had come to terms that he may not see it, but he’s been to the promised land.
“The dream ain’t finished yet. It’s up to you to finish the dream, you finish the vision. Will you do it?”
