While dr. King was bonded with his alpha brothers he was also careful not to allow that bond to overshadow any kinship he had with other protestors who also laid their lives on the line for the civil rights struggle I don’t believe I ever once gave Martin Luther King their fancy
We knew we were members of the same paternity and just to raise the question was to put it a little additional division and there were too many ways already that black people were being divided up according to brother Andrew Young the fraternity was more than a Brotherhood what I remembered getting
From the fraternity was a concept of leadership you you forget but Martin Luther King got a C in public speaking in watts so he wasn’t a born one more house speaking candidate our characters were being formed in those days racial tensions were an all-time high and the retaliation became more violent and life
Threatening although the brothers were under a microscope of scrutiny and dr. King’s magnetic personality offered some comic relief dr. King one of the most fun-loving people you ever want to meet but you didn’t see that in him and he moved around every day when he was
Innocent of small group of guys he could tell jokes for hours you can sit there listener joke followers and laugh like crazy you know it was always serious but Martin always made it fun I mean I used to say that years ago if there was somebody that
Could play barn Luther King you know as I knew him in private it would be Eddie Murphy because he was always cracking jokes he was always signifying he would mimic various preachers just caricature and our friends and brothers at the times when we should have been afraid
Such as when we were going into Birmingham he’d say now we’re not gonna make it out of Birmingham Birmingham really his bombing him that’s the nastiest town in the world we not gonna all make it out of there and just as he do that then he said but don’t worry if
They get you I will preach the best funeral you’ve ever had anybody ever had do you remember the last time you saw dr. King a lot the last time I heard he was a powerful speaker ain’t preach to say when he spilled mine and got through still preaching he turned and started
Back to his seat but he stopped and he called elated and said he’ll acquired John with even singing my favorite song and she started singing if I can help somebody that I pass along if I could hear of somebody with the word or so if I can show somebody he’s travelling
Wrong then my living shall not have been in vain I never heard that song before the gold words stuck with me been in my mind every theory says that day while supporting black Memphis sanitation workers King and other members of his entourage including some of his alpha rows were staying in the now-infamous
Lorraine he was in 306 under the reign and I was in Tokyo I heard a shout and for some reason another I’m meeting assume that to be mine that’s the way things were at that time and they’ve got Martin put him in an ambulance and then
My car doc came to the door he didn’t take me in there so he let me steer when we come back the brothers launched a movement for a month we need to do something for dr. King on the mall that was the one sentence the select words that gave birth to this
In 1983 President Ronald Reagan signed a bill making Martin Luther King jr. Day a national holiday but the Alfa’s wanted something more to commemorate their fraternity brother so they created an idea so magnificent it seemed almost impossible two young men young man came up with the notion of
A monument we had no money no office no staff only the brothers of Alpha Phi Alpha willing to make contributions on an annual basis to keep the idea of a memorial alive when I became president my task was to go raising money and I don’t think anybody had a fault when
This thing first was conceived that would cost 120 million dollars from the outset I thought at the least it would be two years that a maximum will be seven so I felt comfortable in jumping into something that I could probably bring closure on in seven years seven
Turned into 15 now that’s a totally different story from my point of view once you make the commitment because how long the time it would actually take to be Jewish you’re in it for the long haul we are proud of we take great pride in the fact we did
It and I’m just very honored and very pleased that my fraternity our fraternity had a small role in ensuring that dr. King’s legacy would be on the mall for the ages despite the financial success there was still some controversy there’s been some measure of criticism thrown around bandied around about this
Memorial people have said well isn’t isn’t a holiday enough for dr. King of folks who said well you know you he wasn’t a president why a memorial that statute embodies for me the entire movement it is absolutely fitting because dr. King and that movement forced America to
Live up to its constitution so when people said freedom for all when we talked about we oh you know one nation all Americans free and true so dr. King and others made America force them to truly accept the Constitution and not talk about it forced him to live what
This monument really is about Martin Luther King’s ability to solve America’s problems without violence and none of these were black problems these were American problems dr. King became a drum major justice peace and righteousness and along with our brothers of Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity they marched to the beat that
Found them working for freedom and equality for all like the men of his Brotherhood whose vision leadership continued to shape and inspire our world today we too must become motivated to see what part we can play whether large or small to help make our community our
Nation and our world a better place for everyone it’s time to live out the dream I’m Hill he invited me and gene to stop off at Montgomery and see Coretta and Andrea was just a baby and Yolanda was just a baby so we really spent the first time
Talking about you know what it means to be a good father but I don’t think we talked civil rights at all or politics or theology we were just trying to be good fathers and husbands
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