Kenton service aims to keep King’s dream alive

The weather canceled a march honoring Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day in Kenton, but those who attended the program at St. John’s Evangelical Church dedicated themselves to reducing racism and hatred to keep King’s dream alive.

The program began with information on voting and redistricting Congressional districts, but it was the messages of the Rev. Dr. Randall Forester of St. John’s and Rick Cain, member of Payne Chapel AME Church, who encouraged those attending to take action.

“Being a follower of Christ sometimes means our actions step on the toes of others,” said Forester.

In recent years, the minister continued, the church has “played it safe” with social issues and conformed to changes in the name of peace rather than anarchy.

Jesus Christ and Martin Luther King were both willing to die for what they believed in, said Forester.

A church, he continued, should be a thermostat, not a thermometer.

Throughout history, he said, the church has stepped forward and developed hospitals for the sick, hotels for travelers, homes for the elderly and orphanages for those children without parents.

In the early days of the church, such devotion had non-believers saying, “Those church people are foolish, but they are nice to have around,” said Forester.

“Why isn’t the church talked about like that today?” he challenged.

Instead of encouraging changes, the church “beats up” on those who don’t agree with society, Forester continued.

“The most segregated time in America is Sunday morning,” he noted, “when the churches divide up into like-minded people … We need Christians to be Christian.”

King was not trying to be the face of the black population of America, said Forester.

“He was first and foremost a minister of the Gospel,” he said.

“We have love and we have faith and with the basis of that, we are going to serve. We are going to put our necks out. We need to stand for justice.”

Cain, a life-long resident of Hardin County, called on those attending the session to respect themselves and to let their voices be heard.

“We have a President who lies about the smallest things,” said Cain.

“I have a real problem with that, but all I can do is vote.”

Cain said he believes the millenials will change the face of American politics in the near future.

“The are going to speak out not as Republicans because they are Republicans or Democrats because they are Democrats. They are going to vote for people who speak to their needs. The tide is coming.”

He encouraged those attending the program to stop tearing down each other and the institutions the nation was founded on.

“We have to turn things around,” he warned.

“The day of reckoning is coming.”

King’s march on Washington in 1963 had many people questioning why we march, said Rev. Vanessa Cummings of Payne Chapel.

People marched then, she said, because the Emancipation Proclamation had been signed 100 years earlier and black people still were in need of jobs and freedom.

The same question, she continued, could be asked today, 150 years after the proclamation was signed.

There are millionaires who pay nothing or little in taxes, yet their children go to the best schools and the police make sure they keep them safe.

“They don’t pay for that, you and I do,” she said.

There is power in working together, Cummings told the crowd.

“When we march, we show the people of Kenton and Hardin County we stand for the rights of all people,” she said.

“We do not stand for racial intolerance … We march to overcome hatred and bigotry. We stand to lift each other up and to serve each other.”

Before leading the guests in “We Shall Overcome” as they formed a human chain, Cummings said such a cross-section of the community is rare.

“We need to continue the dialogue,” she said.

“We need to represent ourselves.”

The program began with Debra Greenley-Garmon of the League of Women Voters discussing a movement to have an issue placed on the November ballot regarding the establishment of a non-partisan redistricting commission to establish new districts for Congress.

Mike Hubbell, chairman of the Hardin County Democratic Party, told the guests how easy it is to register and cast a ballot in Hardin County.

Yet, he said, not everyone registered goes to the polls.

“Everyone should be participating in the elections. It is very, very important,” said Hubbell.

Rob Radway, chairman of the Hardin County Republican Party and Board of Elections chairman said the county board does everything it can to make each vote count.

He noted board members have taken ballots on Election Day to shut-ins and hospitals to make sure their ballots are included in the total.

“Our job is to make sure every vote counts,” said Radway.

By DAN ROBINSON
Times staff writer