By John C. Drake
The Boston Globe 
Minister Ronel W. Gunn prayed during services honoring Martin Luther King Jr. at the Twelfth Baptist Church in Roxbury.
(Dominic Chavez/Globe Staff)
Service reaches out to younger generation
When the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. was a doctoral student at Boston University in the early 1950s, he frequently graced the pulpit of Roxbury's Twelfth Baptist Church, perfecting the soaring oratory that would help him lead a movement.
Half a century later, 10-year-old Anthony Creary of Jamaica Plain was in the pulpit, reading selections from King's "I Have a Dream" speech during an annual convocation yesterday to mark the start of a week of celebrations honoring King in Boston.
"I felt good knowing I was spreading the word of Martin Luther King," Creary, a student at Parkside Christian Academy in Jamaica Plain, said after the service.
Creary's reading was part of a religious service in which participants recounted the struggle for civil rights. Many suggested that significant challenges remain.
The focus of the church's service, said the Rev. Arthur T. Gerald, Jr., interim pastor, were the children for whom King is now a symbol of a bygone era. A group of children led the church in a spoken call-and-response litany, which recounted key events and figures of the civil rights movement. Other children offered piano and organ solos. And Creary read from one of the most famous speeches ever given.
The multigenerational nature of the service was apparent in the music.
Participants of all ages sang the melancholy "We Shall Overcome" during the same service in which a children's choir sang the cheery "This Was His Dream" with the refrain "Let's all love each other and work together to make his dream come true."
Two children drew smiles with their piano performances of well-recognized hymns. Later, a saxophone soloist drew worshipers to their feet with the mournful "Precious Lord, Take My Hand," which is said to have been one of King's favorite hymns, and which gospel singer Mahalia Jackson performed at his funeral.
Paul Parks, a Boston civil rights leader and former Massachusetts education secretary, recounted the "little indignities" black people faced during his childhood, experiences that left wounds that are still fresh.
"My mother could not try on a hat unless she bought it," he said before reading a selection of Old Testament scripture from the tattered Holy Bible he said was passed down from his mother.
"Today is very important to me," he said. "Every time I sing 'We Shall Overcome,' I get a little misty about it."
He was one of two speakers to invoke the presidential candidacy of Senator Barack Obama as a sign of progress toward King's goals of racial equality.
"Now a man is running for president of the United States who comes from my background," he said. "What a moment of pride. Whether he wins or loses, what a moment of pride."
Mayor Thomas M. Menino and J. Keith Motley, chancellor at the University of Massachusetts at Boston, also spoke.
The annual convocation at Twelfth Baptist Church launched a series of concerts, speeches, and community service events set for the days leading to the federal Martin Luther King Day on Jan. 21.
Tomorrow, King's eldest son, Martin Luther King III, is scheduled to speak at the church. Rhythm and Blues legend
Patti LaBelle is to lend her voice to "MLK: A Gift of Song," a concert at the Wang Center at 8 p.m. Friday. Then, on Jan. 21, civil rights pioneer the Rev. C.T. Vivian is expected to speak at noon at Faneuil Hall.
The federal government recognized King's birthday as a national holiday in 1994, encouraging citizens to use the day to participate in acts of service in their communities.
The holiday celebrates the legacy of King, a Nobel Peace Prize recipient and civil rights icon whose passionate speeches and advocacy of nonviolent demonstrations is credited with helping turn the tide against legalized racial segregation in the United States. King was assassinated in 1968.
John C. Drake can be reached at
jdrake@globe.com.
