Preacher recalls life, last living moments of Martin Luther King Jr.
during sermon at Plainfield church
http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2011/01/preacher_martin_luther_king_jr.html
January 18, 2011
By Ryan Hutchins
PLAINFIELD It was as if Martin Luther King had preached away his
own fear of death.
He told jokes, condemned the Vietnam War and shared his optimism for
the civil rights movement. In his last hour of life, it was just
"preacher talk," recalls the Rev. Samuel "Billy" Kyles, a
contemporary who was alone with King and Ralph Abernathy, another
civil rights leader, that day in 1968.
"He had come through that tremendous depression. Death was on him. He
knew it, he just didn't know when," Kyles said during an interview
Monday morning. "But in that room, all that had passed."
Kyles spoke Monday at Shiloh Baptist Church in Plainfield. He was
among numerous prominent black and civil rights figures who were in
New Jersey for the holiday.
It was as Kyles, Abernathy and King prepared to leave the Lorraine,
the Memphis motel where King was staying, when death came.
When the two were leaving the motel room, Abernathy still inside, a
shot rang out.
"I looked back," Kyles said. "He had been knocked from the railing
back onto the floor. There was a tremendous hole in the side of his
face. It was unbelievable that this was happening."
It's a scene that's still haunting not just for Kyles and those who
shared the moment, but for a generation left numb and bewildered. As
King was remembered Monday, though, many were focused on the future.
For religious and civic groups, it was a "day on not a day off," as
the Rev. Al Sharpton had said on a Sunday telephone interview.
Sharpton spoke at the Metropolitan Baptist Church Monday night,
addressing the needs of the public schools in Newark, as well as the
legacy of King.
Smaller observances, sermons, and performances were scheduled across
the state, as well. From a youth forum at Seton Hall University in
South Orange, to a day of community service in Clinton, admirers
honored the spirit of the civil rights leader on his federal holiday.
On Monday morning, Gov. Chris Christie also appeared in Plainfield at
a memorial breakfast. Like Sharpton, he used the occasion to discuss
education, saying years of failure in the public school system has
created a generation of students with no hope or dreams.
"I truly believe if Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. were with us today, as
he worked toward economic opportunity and voting rights and civil
rights, he would recognize its education opportunity which is
defining how we bring hope to this next generation of our citizens,"
Christie said.
It's a point Kyles might embrace.
"You can kill the dreamer. You really can," Kyles said. "But you must
know, you can't kill the dream."
.a
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