30 years ago — February 19, 1990
A few days before the remembrance of Martin Luther King Jr.’s birth, the state of Virginia, the former capital of the Confederates States, inaugurated its first elected black governor. “The grandson of a slave now holds the highest elective office in a commonwealth where, only 32 years ago, on the same platform which Gov. Wilder spoke his inaugural words, Gov. Lindsay Almond proclaimed a doctrine of ‘massive resistance’ to federally sponsored integration.” Nonviolent advocacy coupled with the political process brought change.
“In 1963, when I was a student at Union Seminary in Virginia, I recall attending a” conference led by King and Adam Clayton Powell. Seminary professor E.T. Thompson, “who was for many years associated with the Outlook,” was on stage welcoming the speakers. “Twenty years later, I sat in Thompson’s living room with a confirmation class” and asked if he remembered that night. “He asked if I remembered the title of King’s sermon. I admitted I did not. He replied, ‘Well, I can’t forget it. … Richmond was very restless that year, living on the edge of violence. King could have burned this city to the ground with just the right rhetoric. But instead, he preached peace. His sermon was titled, ‘There Is a Balm in Gilead.’ ”
From “A sign of God’s mercy” by O. Benjamin Sparks
