Calvin Butts And Others Recall King's Dream

It was proved: that a River of Africa is flowing through America - and flowing through the East End.

But it was a river of rain, caused by last week's northeaster, that almost washed out Southampton College's first-ever Martin Luther King Jr. celebration.

The tribute to a man and his vision, which will be an annual one, marched on proudly, however, despite the last-moment cancellation of the much-anticipated Leon's Inner Voices. The director, Leon Lacey, cited the weather and a cold when he called in.

But everyone else who put this night together, including the Rev. Calvin O. Butts 3d, the keynote speaker, was a trouper. After the bus boycotts and police brutality and assassinations, that River of Africa wasn't going to be halted by a bandleader's cough.

Moving Like A River

Speaking to a half-full but wholly enthusiastic house, Dr. Butts noted that the Dream made famous by Dr. King didn't start with his birth, nor end with his death. Like a river, it is always moving, and growing deeper with age, he said.

"There would be no America without the African River flowing through this place," said Dr. Butts.

Moving skillfully between comedy and a room-quieting seriousness, the speaker took full charge of the place, presenting not only a remembrance of Dr. King but covering the distinguished history of blacks and other oppressed people.

From African American contributions to music and science to some eye-popping numbers on blacks who fought and died for this country, Dr. Butts got many well-deserved cries of "Amen!" "Tell it!" and "All right!" from the Fine Arts Theatre's audience.

Dr. Butts, pastor of Harlem's Abyssinian Baptist Church, has a long track record of standing up for what he believes in: He's fought against police brutality in New York City, cigarette billboard ads in Harlem, rap lyrics that demean women, and the perils of drug abuse and homelessness.

But to cure these modern-day oppressive forces, he reiterated, you have to know where you come from.

"People say how strong and powerful America is," he said. "You'd be strong and powerful, too, if you had me working for 200 years and didn't pay me a dime."

He used the Scriptures, the poetry of Langston Hughes, and the lyrics of Grand Master Flash as examples. The Dream was around before Christ, it's something the poets are constantly trying to define, and it's still here today.

Helping Hands

"You must know the Dream existed before Dr. King, for it to continue into the 21st century," he said. "God has planted this dream in the hearts and minds of people across the generations."

It's a dream about surviving and going on - which was learned especially through the music.

At the last second, Kevin Jones's Helping Hand Gospel Singers of New York City lived up to their name and made the trip east.

"Just tell me how to get there," Mr. Jones told Joseph Encarnacion, one of the evening's planners.

Gospel Singers

With members ranging from the relatively young to one who walked with a cane, Mr. Jones's group was a reminder of the past, present, and future of African American history. Their voices were rich and presentation polished; they really helped fill in the gaps between speakers.

And spirituals such as, "I woke up this morning with my mind set on Jesus," reminded the audience how important God is to so much of the black experience.

Less successful was the Brook haven National Laboratory Gospel Choir. But the two groups got together at the end of the show and made for a harmonious goodbye.

Acknowledgements

Some of Dr. Butts's steam was also taken by a 15-minute series of thank-yous given by M. Anthony Fitchue, Southampton College's director of multicultural programs. Gratitude was administered - slowly - to the group of academics and civil rights activists who invited Dr. Butts, and to what seemed to be half the audience.

These acknowledgements could have been laid out in the program, and many of them already were.

But student poems and essays (including a strong piece on what it means to be a Latino, by Nelson Troche), and testimonials from people who were a part of the struggle during Dr. King's time (and still are today, including Southampton's Bob Zellner and Melissa Walton, and Lucius Ware, head of the Eastern Long Island Chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People), really personalized The Dream - added faces and names to it.

As Dr. Butts asked: "How are you going to be my brother [or] my sister, if you don't know my name?"