Waldorf, MD – There were many dignitaries in attendance at the 22nd Annual Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. All Lives Matter Prayer Breakfast Monday, Jan. 16 at North Point High School in Waldorf, but it was Dr. Lisa Weah, pastor of New Bethlehem Baptist Church of Baltimore, whose words as guest speaker reverberated to the rafters.
Weah said she found her Sandtown neighborhood embroiled in turmoil in the wake of the Freddy Gray death that rocked the city in 2015.
A neighborhood where back in the day Cab Calloway danced in the streets, Billie Holiday sang in the clubs and a young Thurgood Marshall walked in the halls of the high school, now, she said, gang symbols cover the streets and buildings.
“The average Sandtown household makes less than $25,000 a year,” Weah noted. “Less than half the boys will complete high school. Every legal and illegal drug you like is on every corner. These are our challenges today.”
She recalled from Scripture the story of Daniel who was carried away by a king to Babylon.
“Babylon is not Baltimore, but it sure does sound a whole lot like it,” she stated. “We have to remember, God is masterful at letting bad things happen to really good people. Is it Babylon where the young men wear their pants halfway down their butt? Where girls wear skirts so short you can see their behind? Where more young people are going to gangs than are going to college? Learning to flirt but not to read? Where children are killed? Babylon, where a young man was murdered four blocks from our door.
“We’ve come a long way, but we’ve still got a long way to go,” she said.
“The day we buried Freddy [Gray] I asked myself, ‘what would Dr. King say to Babylon today?’ He would tell the people of Babylon, ‘Don’t kill my dream.’
“Deep in my heart, I still believe we shall overcome someday,” Weah concluded.
The annual event is orchestrated by the Charles County Branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People.
The North Point High School students prepared the excellent breakfast served to the packed auditorium and members of the schools JROTC participated in the event, serving in whatever capacity they were needed.
Maryland Congressman Steny Hoyer was given a standing ovation after telling the audience he helped to produce the legislation to make Dr. King’s birthday a national holiday, signed by former President Ronald Reagan in 1983.
Charles County States Attorney Tony Covington was the master of ceremonies.
“This event, given world events, is needed more now than ever,” Covington stated.
Contact Joseph Norris at joe.norris@thebaynet.com
