Stories That Changed My Life: We Shall Overcome

 I attended a city-wide memorial service at the First Baptist church in Tulsa a few days after Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was murdered. Perhaps I went for the right reason but with the wrong attitude. I was proud of myself for being there with my black arm band showing respect for a man and supporting a people who had lost their Moses and perhaps their dream of equity and freedom. I did not see my own arrogance that hid me from seeing how far I had to go in digging out the systemic racism buried deep in my soul.

There was a choir in Tulsa called the Chorus of Angels which was composed of singers from several of the Black churches. They had performed in my church several times and I loved to hear them sing. Early in the program they gathered to sing, and I was very pleased. Their leader Mr. Davis introduced the song by saying, “When I heard about Dr. King, I knew there was only one song we should sing, and we sing it now with broken hearts full of love.”

I had never heard the song, but I was stunned by the words. The song said, “I stood on the banks of the river Jordan and watched that ship sail over and all I could do was stand there and watch that ship sail by.” The message was the person on the boat was finding peace at last.

I listened to that song with a sense of awe and wonder. I was sitting among a people who descended from slavery, lived through rejection, persecution, lynching, a horrible massacre that took place only blocks away from the church where we were meeting and now gathered to honor their Moses who had been murdered and yet they sang about hope.

I was sitting among a remarkable people whom I arrogantly thought needed my support only to find how much I needed theirs. I had also lost my Moses. Dr. King had touched me deeply but sitting there I realized that while, I loved his “I have a Dream” speech, I still had a long way to go before his dream became my dream. To honestly long for the day when everyone is judged not by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.

When the service was over, I went backstage to greet the Angels choir. I wondered how I would be received. How would they feel when a white man had paid some scum to murder such a magnificent leader? How would I feel if the situation were reversed?

They welcomed me with open arms and the hugs I needed. After we talked for a while Mr. Davis had us join hands in a circle and we wept our way through “We Shall Overcome.”

 I remembered that, when the Civil Rights drive was beginning, some Government agency studied whether or not it had a chance to succeeding. The report said something like they do not have the backing, the money, or any of the other things they need but they will succeed because they have a song. That night made the song and the dream much closer to being mine.