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About The skanner. (Portland, Or.) 1975-2014 | View Entire Issue (Jan. 13, 2021)
January 13, 2021 The Skanner Portland & Seattle Page 7 Honoring Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. How Civil Rights Leader Wyatt Tee Walker Revived Hope After MLK’s Death By Corey D. B. Walker, University of Richmond F our years after the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr., the nov- elist James Baldwin would write on the pag- es of Esquire magazine, “Since Martin’s death, in Memphis, and that tre- mendous day in Atlanta, something has altered in me, something has gone away.” Baldwin wrote about how “the act of faith” – that is, his belief that the movement would change white Americans and ultimately America – maintained him through the years of the Black freedom movement, through marches and petitions and torturous setbacks. After King’s death, Baldwin found it hard to keep that faith. Nearly two weeks after King’s funeral, in April of 1968, King’s confi- dant and former strate- gist Wyatt Tee Walker tried to renew this faith. Drawing on a tradition of Black faith, Walker encouraged a grieving community to embrace hope even in the face of despair. As a scholar of religion and American public life, I recognize the im- portant lessons Walker offers for current times when America is deeply divided. Faith in action Black public faith has a storied place in Amer- ican life. The Black church has been a place of fellow- ship and affirmation from colonial America to modern day, empower- ing individuals to under- take public acts to trans- form politics and society. The 19th-century Na- tional Negro Conven- tion movement, which ran from 1831 to 1864, demonstrated this Black faith in action. Its leaders advocated for the aboli- Civil rights leader Wyatt Tee Walker addresses a crowd at St. Phillips AME Church in Atlanta. Afro American Newspapers/Gado/Getty Images tion of slavery and full citizenship for African Americans. One activ- ist reflected years later that the “colored conven- tions” were “almost as frequent as church meet- ings.” The civil rights move- ment carried this faith in “ worshipers’ energy” so they could deal with the “rigors and racism of ‘a cruel, cruel world’ from Monday though Satur- day.” It was this faith that empowered many Afri- can Americans to main- tain their faith in the pos- The sermons and songs of Black faith empowered and sustained African Ameri- cans, even in bleak times action forward. Theolo- gian Dwight Hopkins has written how the sermons and songs of Black faith empowered and sus- tained African Ameri- cans, even in bleak times. These practices on Sun- day morning, he noted served to “recharge the sibilities of democracy while facing entrenched white opposition to their civil rights. Marches, sit- ins, demonstrations and mass meetings were all public displays of black faith. The risk of faith In the wake of King’s as- sassination, the words of his last published book, “Where Do We Go From Here? Chaos or Com- munity,” reverberated throughout the nation. Urban rebellions erupted in the wake of King’s death. With parts of over 100 cities smol- dering or in ruins, cha- os seemed a more likely future in 1968 America than community. In a sermon called “Faith as Taking the Risk,” delivered at Princ- eton Theological Sem- inary, Walker sought to address a question posed by a young theolo- gian James H. Cone after King’s death: “Without King, where was the hope?” Deftly navigating the tension between hope and despair, Walker based his message on the response of the Hebrew prophet Elisha in the Book of Kings who faced crisis and despair with an invading Syrian army, widespread famine and people ready to give up. Drawing inspiration from the faith of the com- See WALKER on page 8
