The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King was honored at Harlem’s Riverside Church with a packed congregation that included King’s son, Martin Luther King III; the Rev. Michael Walrond, senior pastor of the historic First Corinthian Baptist Church and Dream Center; and Riverside’s senior minister emeritus, the Rev. James A. Forbes Jr.
Walrdon was the featured guest speaker during a celebration of word and song, “Realizing the Dream: A Call to Conscience,” on Sunday, Jan. 19 at the Morningside Heights church.
The people heard powerful sentiments from guest speakers: human rights advocate Martin Luther King III; Forbes; attorney William Wachtel, founder of progressive policy think-tank the Drum Major Institute; and the Rev. Dr. Serene Jones, president of Union Theological Seminary. The program also featured a special performance of “Let Justice Roll” by Mark Miller, accompanied by a mass choir including members of the Riverside Inspirational Choir and the Ebony Ecumenical Ensemble.
Martin Luther King Jr. preached from the Riverside Church’s pulpit on many occasions. One year before his untimely death, he gave his historic “Beyond Vietnam” speech condemning the “triple evils of racism, economic exploitation and militarism” on April 4, 1967.