Dr. KING CAME FOR EVERYBODY

There  is something about starting a meeting with Amazing Grace that creates a certain respect for the moment.  As I entered the room, the bustle of the attendees being served and those who had their lunches settling into their seats filled the room. There was scattered conversation even as Dr. Templer rose to get the program started. And then Mis Nikesha Green came to the podium and began to lift her voice in song. As she did, a hush came over the room; even the people still in the hall being served became silent. Eyes glued to smartphones were pulled in her direction as others lifted their faces and closed their eyes to listen. We were all caught in a moment of reverence. The importance of this coming together washed over everyone in the room in that moment and we were one – here to honor a man who had changed us all – young and old – black and white; for better or worse, we would be unable to see ourselves in the same light ever again and I thought  of the bible passage. “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God,”
The young lady ended her song and for a moment there was silence and then applause. It was time for Dr. Virgil Wood to come to the podium. He began by apologizing for his overzealous barber who had left him a little shiny on top but then immediately asked his audience, “When did you figure out your Grandma was smarter than you?”
Speaking of his journey with Dr. King, he was heavily impacted by his two grandmothers; much more so than the education he received. Dr. Wood said his journey too has been guided by the extraordinary people he has met along the way. As an ordained minister while still in his teens, Dr. Wood has spent the majority of his life ministering to the economically and spiritually disadvantaged. His message to the students this day was that with all they have received, perhaps there is “a little left over to share with someone else that does not have what you have”.
“The night before Dr. King died he spoke about unity saying ‘I’ve been to the mountaintop … I’ve seen the Promised Land. I may not get there with you. But I want you to know tonight, that we, as a people, will get to the Promised Land’. Now that’s the part I’m talking about. He was talking to a group of black folks but not just black folk, He was talking about all God’s people. Martin Luther King came for everybody.”
Dr. Wood is a storyteller in the grand tradition of southern storytellers. He carries his audience along in his raft of words and I do believe we hit the rapids several times. You can hear the audio of his speech on our website in its entirety and I can assure you it will be time well spent. His pearls of wisdom are peppered throughout his time at that podium.
Dr. Wood received a Doctorate of Education from Harvard University and was Dean and Director of African American Institute, Associate Professor of Northeastern University in Boston and a Professor at Virginia Seminary and College in Lynchburg. None of it slowed his ability to touch hearts and minds or to speak harsh truths. His presence is powerful and his wisdom is expansive. He is a fearless freedom fighter and a passionate believer in the ability of humanity to rise above our past and become like the “Eagle who thought he was a chicken”  and refused a life of scratching in the dust and chose to soar.