Atlanta minister revives spirit of King Day Breakfast

ALBANY – The Rev. E. Dewey Smith of Atlanta’s House of Hope evoked the spirits of Abel, Jesus Christ and Martin Luther King Jr. Monday morning during the 46th King Day Commemorative Breakfast at Mt. Zion Baptist Church, and by the time he’d finished delivering his keynote address at the annual breakfast honoring the slain civil rights leader, he had the “congregation” standing, shouting and amen-ing like the gathering at a spirited tent revival.

In conjuring the spirit of revival of the pioneers who dreamed the King Day Breakfast, which was started by a small group of Procter & Gamble employees some 46 years ago, Smith said the tragic murders of Abel (by his brother Cain), Jesus on the cross and the shooting death of King did not silence them.

“When God asked Cain, who had killed and buried his brother, where Abel was, the former famously answered, ‘Am I my brother’s keeper?’” Smith said. “And when they shot Martin Luther King on the balcony of that hotel in Memphis on April 4, 1968,, the people who opposed him said ‘that will be the end of that.’ And when they crucified Jesus, nailed him to the cross, they figured they’d quieted him forever.

“But these men, they continued to talk. All these years and decades later, their voices are still speaking.”

By the time he finished his address/sermon, the Mt. Zion crowd gathered for the annual breakfast broke into a spontaneous round of applause and praise that proved Smith’s words had landed on-target.

“The spirit of Cain and Abel is still alive; we just call it Crips against Bloods now,” he said, as the volume of response intensified. “We call it Baptists against Methodists. We call it Democrats against Republicans. There are too many divisive forces taking over our world.”

Smith’s remarks came after stirring musical performances by the J. Nathan Paige-led MLK Mass Choir, which also backed a solo performance by Karla Heath-Sands.

United Way of Southwest Georgia President/CEO Orson Burton, the event emcee, introduced Albany Mayor Bo Dorough and Dougherty County Commission Chairman Lorenzo Heard, who offered remarks, and a welcome was offered by Mt. Zion Executive Pastor O. Jermaine Simmons.

Simmons remarked, “This is a community event, but it feels church-y in here.”

Dorough, speaking of the originators of the breakfast, said, “I wonder if those P&G employees ever imagined what their little meeting would turn into, how many lives would be touched,” and Heard added, “we celebrate today what the H.E.A.R.T. organization is doing.”

Anne Johnson, the president and CEO of the H.E.A.R.T.  (Hands Extended Across Reaching Together) organization, offered closing remarks before the choir led the gathering with a rendition of “Lift Every Voice and Sing.”

A breakfast prepared by Mt. Zion members and other volunteers was served at the close of the event.