Baker prof remembers 1963 civil rights march
Nearly 45 years ago, more than 250,000 people marched on Washington, D.C., demanding equal rights. As 6News reporter Janet Reid explains, a Baker University professor was right there in the middle of it. Enlarge video
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Martin Luther King Jr. Celebration
Sites and sounds from the Martin Luther King Jr. Commemorative Gospel Musical. The event took place on Sunday, January 21, 2008, at the Mustard Seed Christian Fellowship in Lawrence.
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It was a scene that Martin Luther King Jr. would have loved. A rainbow of faces - black, white, American Indian, Hispanic - dotting the rows of a church to come together to celebrate unity and peace.
The Lawrence Ecumenical Fellowship of Pastors organized its annual celebration of King's life and legacy, and Sunday night featured a Commemorative Gospel Musical at Mustard Seed Christian Fellowship, 700 Wakarusa Drive.
Rose Armstrong passed out programs to patrons Sunday night, and said the concert was a way for Lawrence to show unity by commemorating King's life.
She said she hoped, paraphrasing King, "One day all of God's children will walk together, hand-in-hand."
The concert included prayer and Scripture readings by pastors of area congregations. But the crowd of more than 200 was warmed by the performance of the Martin Luther King Youth Choir, which performed several songs.
Steve Otter, Perry, came to see his 5-year-old daughter, Bella, perform with the choir. She had been looking forward to the concert for weeks, he said.
"She sings all the way home, waiting for practice," Otter said. "My 3-year-old sings, too, but she's not old enough to be up there."
The children's choir, which preceded the Martin Luther King Adult Choir, sang songs of love and peace.
One song in particular, "Sing About Martin," drew a standing ovation from the crowd. The slow-paced anthem was carried through the auditorium by the dissonance of the children's voices, an undulating chorus that perfectly embodied King's message of love and acceptance and equality.
Lawrence resident Andrea Partee was glad to see such a diverse group singing and clapping along.
"I wish there were fewer churches in Lawrence, so we could be under the same umbrella," Partee said. "It's nice that a city as small as Lawrence sees it as important to celebrate this."
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