If anyone in Cumberland County can tell you about the life and times and death of Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., it’s Fayetteville City Councilmember Stephon Ferguson.
He can recite the late civil rights leader’s “I Have a Dream” speech, which was delivered on August 28, 1963, from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in the nation’s capital before an estimated 250,000 in attendance.
He can recite King’s final “I’ve Been to the Mountaintop” speech, which King delivered in front of more than 2,000 people on April 3, 1968, at Mason Temple in Memphis, Tennessee. He delivered the speech a day before assassin James Earl Ray would gun down the 39-year-old King, who was standing on the balcony of the third floor of the Lorraine Motel.
And Ferguson can reiterate King’s February 4, 1968, sermon from the pulpit of Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta, Georgia, where King said he wanted to be remembered as a “drum major for justice.”
Ferguson will bring us those February 4 words of the civil rights icon at a Community Candlelight Vigil, which is scheduled from 7–8 p.m. on April 3 at Beth Finch Park on Green Street downtown.
“He would say, ‘If you’re gonna do it, don’t make it about me,’” said Ferguson, 58, who is in his first term as a Fayetteville City Councilmember representing north Fayetteville. “‘Make it about what I was about, the community.’”
Ferguson has taken on the vigil in the absence of the 32nd annual Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Parade, which was scheduled for January 17 downtown, then postponed and apparently cancelled for what only can be described as organizational failures on the nonprofit’s part.
With the cancellation of this year’s parade, “I could not in good conscience allow another community gathering opportunity to commemorate King’s vision of love, peace, and unity pass,” Ferguson said. “The best commemoration we can give is a charge to continue working toward the realization of his dream, his vision of the beloved community. And if there was ever a time to promote unity in the community, that time is now.”
The Community Candlelight Vigil will precede an MLK Candlelight Vigil, which Tawanna Branch, president of the Fayetteville-Cumberland County Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Committee, said is scheduled from 5:30–6:30 p.m. on April 4 at MLK Park on Blue Street.
‘The Content of Their Character’
When it comes to Martin Luther King Jr.’s quest for social and civil rights justice, Ferguson knows it well. He has worked with the MLK National Historical Park and the King Center at the historic Ebenezer Baptist Church from 2011-2020. He has delivered renditions of King’s speeches in 2007 to the North Carolina General Assembly. Ferguson was there on August 23, 2003, as a member of the Fayetteville-Cumberland County Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Committee at MLK Park on Blue Street.
And when it comes to King’s oratories in the name of civil rights justice, Ferguson knows King’s words almost by heart.
“I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character,” Ferguson can speak King’s words of 1963. “…And when this happens, and when we allow freedom’s ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God’s children, Black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual: Free at last. Free at last.”
Ferguson can recite the words from King’s final message in Memphis, Tennessee, of striking sanitation workers, before he would die at age 39 by an assassin.
“Like anybody, I would like to live a long life,” King concluded. “Longevity has its place. But I’m not concerned about that now. I just want to do God’s will. And He’s allowed me to go up to the mountain. And I’ve looked over. And I’ve seen the Promised Land. I may not get there with you. But I want you to know tonight, that we, as a people, will get to the promised land.”
And, Ferguson says he will remind those on April 3 of how King wanted to be remembered from his February 4, 1968, sermon at Ebenezer Baptist Church, which was King’s home church at 101 Jackson St. in Atlanta.
“If any of you are around when I have to meet my day, I don’t want a long funeral,” King said. “And if you get somebody to deliver the eulogy, tell them not to talk too long. And every now and then, I wonder what I want them to say. Tell them not to mention that I have a Nobel Peace Prize—that isn’t important. Tell them not to mention that I have three or four hundred other awards—that’s not important… I want you to say that I tried to love and serve humanity. Yes, if you want to say that I was a drum major, say that I was a drum major for justice. Say that I was a drum major for peace. I was a drum major for righteousness. And all of the other shallow things will not matter.”
Epilogue
All are welcome on Good Friday at Beth Finch Park.
“The candlelight vigil is an opportunity for the community to come together and reflect on Martin Luther King, Jr.’s principles of love, peace, and unity,” Ferguson said. “The hour will consist of words of unity from some of our community leaders and youth, prayers, songs, a moment of silence, and lighting of candles.
“The candle lighting will take place just after the sun sets at 7:30 p.m. While the 4th is the day he was killed, it is also Easter Eve this year, when folks are preparing for the most attended church service of the year. In consideration of people’s time, we backed it up a day to Good Friday, the anniversary of King’s last speech—‘Mountaintop.’
“We’re inviting the entire community to this free event,” Ferguson said, “regardless of your political affiliation, ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation, economic status, or any of our differences, most of which are often used to divide us.”
And all are welcome at MLK Park.
No need for a parade in the week ahead. Just remembrances of the late Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., who tried to leave a world better for all.
Bill Kirby Jr. can be reached at billkirby49@gmail.com or 910-624-1961.
We’re nearing our fourth year of CityView Today, and so many of you have been with us from day one in our efforts to bring the news of the city, county, community, and Cape Fear region each day. We’re here with a purpose to deliver the news that matters to you.