He was playful. He loved to laugh. He had a sense of joy inside of him. He was so much fun. Most people never saw that part.
For most people, the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. is an enduring American symbol of peace, justice and racial harmony. He was a Nobel prize winner whose soaring oratory inspired millions and a victim of gun violence whose death made him a martyr for the Civil Rights Movement.
But Donzaleigh Abernathy, daughter of the Rev. Ralph Abernathy, got to see a whole different side of the man.
Dr. King loved playing board games and could imitate almost anyone. He was a nervous Nellie who chewed his fingernails to the nub, a jock who would go swimming at a moment’s notice — but couldn’t play basketball — and a loving godfather who taught her how to jump up and down on her bed.
“He was playful. He loved to laugh. He had a sense of joy inside of him,” said Abernathy, whose father worked hand in hand with Dr. King in the 1960s. “He was so much fun. Most people never saw that part.”
On Thursday, January 15 — what would have been Dr. King’s 97th birthday — more than 200 people heard about that part at Milwaukee Area Technical College.
Abernathy shared deeply personal stories about her father and Dr. King with MATC students, faculty, staff, community leaders and elected officials who gathered at the college’s Downtown Milwaukee Campus to celebrate the life and legacy of the civil rights giant.
Abernathy, an actress and author, was the keynote speaker for the event, which also featured songs performed by the MATC Vocal Ensemble, poetry recitations and remarks from local officials and clergy. During the event, Milwaukee artist Ken Brown painted a portrait of Dr. King.
See TV coverage of the event
The celebration started with a video of Dr. King delivering the speech “How Long? Not Long!” speaking in front of the Alabama Capitol in March 1965.
“It’s important that we hear his voice,” said Michael Rogers, the college’s vice president of Student Engagement and Community Impact.
The speech, delivered after a protest march, is known as “How Long? Not Long!”
“The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice,” Dr. King said in the speech. “We must come to see that the end we seek is a society at peace with itself, a society that can live with its conscience…that will be the day of man as man. I know you are asking today, how long will it take?”
Sadly, many people are still striving for equity, justice, freedom and fairness 60 years after that speech, said MATC President Dr. Anthony Cruz.
“I look at society today and I will continue to ask the question that he asked. How long will it be before we can all be in agreement; that there is equity, fair treatment and charity, and appreciation of differences?” Dr. Cruz said. “How long will it be before we have compassion and treat each other with respect and stability?
“We have to recognize and celebrate the differences in our opinions, in our political and our religious beliefs, in our career pursuits, and so many other things. That is the beauty of living in a free and diverse America,” Dr. Cruz said. “We should, on a daily basis, commit ourselves to kindness and compassion, even when we disagree.”
Abernathy saw Dr. King’s kindness and compassion up close, along with his glee in trifling things like board games and water sports. “His game was Monopoly. That’s how he taught us to count money. He also played Candy Land,” she said. “His thing was swimming. Him and my father would go to the Black Y, because those were days of segregation, put on their swim trunks and go swim.”
Abernathy experienced segregation and racial hatred even before she was born. Her mother was pregnant with her when her parents’ home was bombed in the predawn hours of January 10, 1957.
The crowd sat mesmerized as she displayed family photographs and recounted how her father and Dr. King trained together in the ministry, organized protests, spent nights in jail, faced threats and violence, and marched on Washington, D.C.
Her father was with Dr. King on that tragic day in April 1968 when Dr. King was shot and killed by an assassin in Memphis, Tennessee. She recalled the emotional toll attending the funeral service and procession took on her as a young girl.
“When we heard he was shot, we thought he would be all right,” she said. “God doesn’t let good people die. When he died, the light went out of our lives. I had never hated God, but I did on that day.”
After Dr. King’s death, Ralph Abernathy worked tirelessly to create a national Martin Luther King Jr. Day. The holiday was signed into law in 1983 and first observed in 1986. He died in 1990.
Even with the national holiday, Dr. King’s quest to create a beloved community continues, said the Rev. Dr. Demetrius Williams, senior pastor of the Community Baptist Church of Milwaukee.
“He believed the beloved community was possible because he believed in people,” Dr. Williams said. “This day is about continuing his work, for us to remember that we need to keep building the beloved community brick by brick, day by day.”
By helping students succeed, and calling its new, five-year strategic plan Ascend Together, MATC is doing its part to build that beloved community, said Keushum Willingham, president of Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity, the fraternity Dr. King belonged to. “No one ascends alone,” he said. “We all ascend together.”
The MATC Vocal Ensemble sang “Lift Every Voice and Sing,” often described as the unofficial Black national anthem, and “Lean on Me.” James Sokolowski, who works at Milwaukee Public Schools, and La’Ketta Caldwell, delivered powerful spoken word poems.
Milwaukee Mayor Cavalier Johnson asked the guests to recommit themselves to what Dr. King dedicated his life to: justice, equality and opportunity for everyone.
“He didn’t just challenge us to dream, he challenged us to act,” Johnson said. “To step up and speak out. To not only talk and talk, but walk the walk.”
Watch the entire MLK Day Celebration
About MATC: Wisconsin’s largest technical college and one of the most diverse two-year institutions in the Midwest, Milwaukee Area Technical College is a key driver of southeastern Wisconsin’s economy and has provided innovative education in the region since 1912. More than 30,000 students per year attend the college’s four campuses and community-based sites or learn online. MATC offers affordable and accessible education and training opportunities that empower and transform lives in the community. The college offers more than 180 academic programs — many that prepare students for jobs immediately upon completion and others that provide transfer options leading to bachelor’s degrees with more than 40 four-year colleges and universities. Overwhelmingly, MATC graduates build careers and businesses in southeastern Wisconsin. The college is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission.