On Monday night, my son, Michael and I attended a Martin Luther King birthday celebration in Teaneck, NJ. The annual celebration is sponsored by the Bergen County Martin Luther King Birthday Committee; an organization I was once a part of. 

In recent years, I haven’t taken part due to some minor health issues. It made me feel good to still be recognized by members of the committee. Among them was director, Theodora Lacey, who knew Martin Luther King, Jr. before he became famous. Theodora’s father was board president of the Dexter Avenue Baptist Church when Martin Luther King, Jr. was chosen as their pastor in 1954. Theodora’s mother had been a childhood friend of Rosa Parks, whose arrest in 1955 was part of what led to the bus boycott in Montgomery, Alabama. Theodora assisted with the boycott by typing press releases, driving people to and from work, and raising funds towards taxi fares for those in need of alternate transportation. 

During the boycott, Theodora was in a group that was with Martin Luther King, Jr. when he received a telephone call from someone, telling him that his house had been bombed. On the way to his house, King advised everyone to follow his lead, which was that no matter what they found when they arrived, they would not respond with violence. Fortunately, no one was injured in that action.

It was so good to see that the organization was still going strong. I am now determined to be somewhat active on the committee again.