Rev. Tom Cutts

Thank you, Rev. Kenneth Marcus and your wife, Rev. Cassandra Marcus, for hosting this memorial service for Mrs. Coretta Scott King. And thank you, Rev. O.J. Brown, President of the Cobb County SCLC, and Rev. Dwight Graves, Chairman of the Cobb County SCLC, for inaugurating this scholarship fund in the name of Mrs. King. This is an excellent way to encourage our young people to study hard, and to let them know that if they are willing to do what it takes, they can become as great as they dream to be.

I would also like to thank Dr. King and Mrs. King. Don’t you think that they might be with us here this afternoon? I want to thank them for “standing up”, for they could have run away. They stood up for you and me. They stood up to liberate not only black people, but white people, too. They stood up to liberate all people.

Rev. Dr. Martin
Luther King

To be honest, as a white person, I am very humbled to be speaking before you this afternoon. Congressman David Scott mentioned earlier the Dark and Dangerous Times that our nation went through. One reason Dr. King wrote his letter from the Birmingham Jail was because he was not sure he would leave that jail alive. As a white person, I didn’t have to suffer the humiliating and fearful experiences that many of you had to endure. My friend Dr. Hosea Williams, though, helped me understand what it felt like to return to South Georgia after defending America during World War II. He had fought in Germany, and was decorated for his service. Yet, while returning to south Georgia in his U.S. Army uniform, he was nearly lynched for drinking water from a “white’s only” water fountain.

When I was asked to speak in the program today, I went to my prayer closet and asked Heavenly Father just what could I add to the conversation. I had met Daddy King on one occasion, and I had met Mrs. Coretta Scott King two or three times, but that didn’t qualify me to speak today. Then that “Still Small Voice” reminded me that I had been personally mentored by four Civil Rights giants: Dr. Ralph David Abernathy, Dr. Hosea Williams, Rev. James Bevel, and former Congressman Walter Fauntroy. I could certainly share some of the lessons that these friends had taught me.

Mrs. Corretta Scott King

Today, as we honor Mrs. King, it is appropriate to consider how far we have come in realizing the dream that she and her husband lived and died for. In terms of segregation there has been progress. But when we consider the places we live, the schools we attend, and even where we worship, we can see we still have a long way to go.

Economically, we have also made some advances, but Dr. Hosea Williams lamented to me that most of the progress made since the 1960’s have been wiped away because of the breakdown of the family.

One way to pay tribute to Dr. and Mrs. King is to acknowledge “what” they have done. And this would be appropriate. But another way to honor them would be to consider “how” they accomplished what they did, and “why” they did it. I would like to take a few moments to consider “how” and “why” they did what they did.

Rev. James Bevel helped me understand “how” Dr. King was able to change the laws of the land. Dr. King confronted the gap between America’s Ideal – as articulated in the Declaration of Independence - and the reality that existed at the time. America was founded on a premise, on a Higher Law if you will, that states that, “all men are created equal and they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights, (rights that cannot be taken away) and that among these are the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness”.

The Selma to Montgomery march for the right to vote

Rev. Bevel also pointed out that, though we have a Constitutional right to vote, we don’t have a Constitutional right to a job, or a Constitutional right to food, or a Constitutional right to medical care.

In fact, allowing government to provide these things is a formula for disaster. And that is just what we have done. We have allowed Government to take the place of the father, the provider, and even God, in our families.

Congressman Walter Fauntroy helped me understand how much every boy and girl needs a father and a mother. Every boy needs a dad to love him, and tell him that he is as good as anyone else. Every girl needs a dad who loves her, and tells her she is the most beautiful girl in the world. A girl, who feels that kind of love from her daddy, won’t be looking for love in all the wrong places. Our children need dads who tell them that if they are willing to do what it takes, they can be as great as they dream to be.

Hon. Rev. Walter Fauntroy

Statistics tell us that 60 to 70% of our young people today live in a home without a dad. I am not minimizing the monumental and noble efforts single mothers are making. But children need a father. I know many in the audience today never had a dad to encourage them and to guide them. Well, who can step into that gap? It is not the role of the government to be a dad. Those of us with stable families need to coach young men and women who have no fathers. I celebrate the ministry of our host pastor and his wife. They are setting an example of how a couple can maintain a healthy, loving marriage. In December the Cobb County S.C.L.C. recognized Coach “Friday” Richards and his wife. Through the years they brought into their home 14 young men who were in trouble. They just needed a dad. Today these young men have graduated from college, and are productive members of society. We need more men like Coach “Friday”.

We also have people in our churches who understand business, and how to generate wealth. They need to become coaches for our young people. To teach our young people the value of setting goals and how to work to achieve those goals.

In closing we can ask “why” Dr. and Mrs. King dedicated their lives, their fortunes, and their sacred honor to the Civil Rights cause. Mrs. King regretted that the world is forgetting that her husband was a minister of God, a prophet of God, a minister of the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. It was their love of God, and their love of their fellow man that informed all of their actions. Even from their graves they challenge us to bring God back into our lives and into the life of our nation.

What greater tribute can we give Dr. and Mrs. King than we become individuals who live unselfishly for the sake of others? That our families live for the sake of other families, and become places where our children grow up with loving fathers and loving mothers. That in our communities we can see each other, red and yellow, black and white, as children of God. And finally, God has not blessed America so richly just so we can live more comfortably. If we want to bring God back to America, we need to become a Blessing to other people all around the world. This I believe would be the greatest tribute to Dr. and Mrs. King.

They stood up for us. They could have run away, but they stood up for us. Thank you Dr. King, for standing up for us. Thank you, Mrs. King, for standing up for us. Will anyone stand with me today to bring God back into our personal lives? Will anyone stand with me today to bring God back into our families and into our communities? Will anyone stand with me today to bring God back into our great nation of America?

Will you stand with me? May God bless you. And God bless, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and Mrs. Coretta Scott King.