Fort Sill commemorates Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day

By Mitch Meador, Fort Sill TribuneJanuary 31, 2019

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FORT SILL, Okla. (Jan. 31, 2019) -- Guest speaker Jervis Jackson highlighted specific moments from the life of civil rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. to drive home the theme "Remember! Celebrate! Act! A Day On, Not a Day Off!" at a Fort Sill luncheon in honor of MLK Day.

Luncheon sponsors were the 428th Field Artillery (FA) Brigade and the Installation Equal Opportunity Office.

Lt. Col. David McRae, commander of 1st Battalion, 78th FA, introduced Jackson as an Army veteran and an ordained minister of the gospel for 17 years who currently pastors Mount Olive Baptist Church in Chickasha. As director of the Southwest Oklahoma Continuum of Care and chairman of the "I Count" campaigns, Jackson has drawn on volunteers from the Sgt. Audie Murphy Club and numerous other organizations to assist homeless veterans and their families, McRae said.

Jackson welcomed the chance "to celebrate the life and accomplishments of so great a servant."

"It is a good thing for us to remember, because apart from our memories, we would all be adrift. It is the things we are able to hold to, retain in our memories, that keep us forever anchored to our past. They allow for us to better interpret our present, and give us the unique ability to chart a course for our future," he said.

Jackson noted that throughout his life, President Abraham Lincoln could always recall his mother's prayers, and they always provided him a right perspective.

"They also provided for him clarity that was sufficient to guide him through some of the most difficult situations and circumstances in his life," the speaker added.

Jackson challenged listeners to keep memories of King's legacy in mind for more than one day only and draw upon what he stood for.

"Let us begin by remembering the work. It was a work that began in 1955 with the Montgomery (Ala.) bus boycotts as Dr. King took on the median role and became the central figure in the movement.

"It is a work that continued in 1957 as he not only helped to found but became the first president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. And it is from this platform that he was able to organize nonviolent protests in Birmingham, Ala., in 1962 that drew national attention after the televised news coverage of the brutal police response.

"It is from this platform that in 1963 he helped to organize the march on Washington, D.C., and this is where he delivered his 'I Have a Dream' speech, and inspired a nation with its impassionate plea for justice.

"It is here where he gave Americans a vision of hope, a vision of brotherhood and sisterhood among all its citizens. It is a work for which he was honored in 1964, as he received the Nobel Peace Prize for combating racial inequality through nonviolence.

"But it did not end it. In fact, the work continued even in 1965 with the organization of the Selma-to-Montgomery marches, and even beyond that up to the very end of his life in April of 1968, as he was assassinated in Memphis, Tenn.

"But I want you to know today that it was not always just the work that inspired him. It was also how he accomplished the work. Because it was in his accomplishment of the work that we were able to recognize the true content of his character. We were able to recognize the attitudes and the beliefs and the motivators that were in the heart of the man, that were brought to bear in some of the most trying and challenging times in the history of this country.

"And I want you to know that as they were brought to bear, we were able now to see that which was in the man," Jackson said.

Character of his kind is not developed in adversity, but it stands revealed when that which is on the inside is pushed up to the surface and exposed for all to see, the speaker pointed out.

In this way, the American people saw that an ordinary man was able to do extraordinary things simply because he refused to stand idly by while injustice prevailed all around him. King's character demanded much of humanity and insisted that it was always the right time to do the right thing.

He preached a message of nonviolence even when acts of violence were perpetrated on him, on black Americans, and on others who stood beside him and joined with King in insisting upon fair treatment for all, said Jackson.

Each generation must answer its own clarion call to provide a right response to the wrongs that assail them, and try to chart a course for the future of this country that will ensure King's legacy lives on.

As King himself once put it, "In the end, we will remember. And when we remember, we will not remember so much the words of our enemies, but we will remember the silence of our friends."

The MacArthur High School Choir, under the direction of Misti Hively, performed vocal selections while the audience was being served. Buffalo Soldiers of the 9th & 10th (Horse) Cavalry Association advanced the colors, Sgt. Matthew Wiley of the 77th Army sang the national anthem, and Chaplain (Maj.) Derek Pottinger of 1st Battalion, 30th FA provided the invocation. Master of ceremonies was Staff Sgt. Paul Demaree.