Ghana’s Influence on Martin Luther King, Jr. and the African American Freedom Struggle
Brother Robert L. Harris, Jr.
By Robert L. Harris, Jr., Ph.D.
I
t is a distinct honor to be with you during the 50th Anniversary of Ghana’s Independence as you celebrate Ghana@50 and as you observe the 78th Anniversary of Dr. Martin Luther King’s birth on January 15, 1929 in Atlanta, Georgia. The theme for your essay/poetry/art contest comes from the sermon that Dr. King delivered on April 7, 1957 at the Dexter Avenue Baptist Church where he was pastor. He called his sermon “The Birth of a New Nation.” Dr. King was excited about his travel to Ghana and his presence at midnight on March 6, 1957 when the British flag was lowered and replaced by the flag of Ghana. Kwame Nkrumah was the first head of state that Dr. King met. Dr. King’s congregation had provided the expenses for him and his wife, Coretta Scott King, to travel to Ghana and he wanted to share with them reflections on the historic occasion of Ghanaian Independence. Although Dr. King was only 28-years-old, he had emerged as a major leader in the United States as head of the Montgomery Bus Boycott, just two years earlier. Segregation on the buses was symbolic of the racial oppression that African Americans confronted in the U.S. It was a daily reminder of the indignities that they suffered as second-class citizens who were separated from fellow white citi-
zens from the cradle to the grave. White supremacy reigned in the American South where African Americans were forced to occupy an inferior place in education, employment, housing, recreation and transportation. As a young man, Dr. King chafed at racial discrimination. While in elementary school, he had to be restrained by his teacher as they traveled on a school trip and were forced to sit in the back of the bus, although they paid the same fare as the white passengers. Dr. King rebelled at the injustice of racial separation. He wanted to sit in an open seat on the bus rather than being confined to the section set aside for African Americans only. At age 26, with a newborn daughter and as pastor of Dexter Avenue Baptist Church in Montgomery, Alabama for less than a year, Dr. King rose to the challenge when called upon to lead the Bus Boycott. He was well-prepared as a graduate of Morehouse College, one of the top historically black colleges in the U.S.; as a graduate of theological seminary; and as the recent recipient of a doctoral degree in theology from Boston University. In fact, Dr. King had just reached the point where he might enjoy his marriage of two years, his young family, and new ministry. Instead, he accepted the mantle of leadership that was shunned by many others
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Spring • Summer 2007
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