(Cross-posted from Kickin' Ass -- The DNC Blog)
Words would fail if I attempted to describe the atmosphere in St. Stephen's Baptist Church in Kansas City, Missouri on the evening of the Martin Luther King holiday. I entered having little idea what to expect, and left having witnessed a diverse crowd come together in prayer, song, and celebration without regard for the color of eachother's skin, but because of the content of their character and a message of unity.
The service had barely started when the gentleman pictured below stepped up to the microphone, thanked his mother and grandmother, and began signing. And when I say sing, I mean sing ... a sound you can tell was produced with the help of every last bone in his body.
Video: Opening Song of Service (.wmv)
The audience was packed, there were several overflow rooms set up inside the church where members of the congregation sat and watched on closed-circuit televisions. The service itself was a combination of inspirational music, speeches by clergy and politicians (Democrats and Republicans alike), and a 45 minute sermon built around the theme of "unity in the community." Governor Dean spoke about how it might be discouraging at times today, but we have no right to get down, only the right to keep fighting--Dr. King spent many days in jail, African-Americans were attacked by dogs and firehoses, people in his own community said he was moving to fast, but he never gave up.
Video: Congressman Emanuel Cleaver Introduces Governor Dean (.wmv)
Video: Governor Dean Speaking (.wmv)
For me, the music was undoubtedly the highlight of the evening -- and the different types of music played and sung were as diverse as the audience itself. From a children's choir, the SCLC Community Choir, a Korean church choir, a young man wowing the audience on his saxophone, and the former leader of the St. Stephen's Baptist Choir taking us back before "all this electronic music" started playing in the church, with some old spiritual-type songs made famous during the civil rights movement.
I am back at the hotel now after not knowing what to expect when I took off this morning for Kansas City. And although we don't see it all the time from our elected officials in Washington, D.C., what I saw tonight gives me hope that Dr. King's dream lives on, and there are a tremendous amount of people of all colors and creeds working to see that dream become a reality.
Photo: Congregation
Photo: Sermon by Dr. Myron McCoy
Photo: Korean Church Choir