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Civil rights leader challenges Chattanooga to continue fighting for liberation

Staff photo by Tim Barber/ The singing group Visions, led by Ida E. Johnson, right, performs a spirited song, "I Am Blessed," Saturday morning during the Rev. Dr. Marktin Luther King Jr. Celebration Prayer Breakfast at the Greater Tucker Baptist Church in Brainerd. Singer's from left are, Tara Daniels, D'Toria Elder, Enoushall Kilgore Kristina Elder and Johnson. — Staff photo by Tim Barber/ The singing group Visions, led by Ida E. Johnson, right, performs a spirited song, "I Am Blessed," Saturday morning during the Rev. Dr. Marktin Luther King Jr. Celebration Prayer Breakfast at the Greater Tucker Baptist Church in Brainerd. Singer's from left are, Tara Daniels, D'Toria Elder, Enoushall Kilgore Kristina Elder and Johnson. Staff photo by Tim Barber/ The singing group Visions, led by Ida E. Johnson, right, performs a spirited song, "I Am Blessed," Saturday morning during the Rev. Dr. Marktin Luther King Jr. Celebration Prayer Breakfast at the Greater Tucker Baptist Church in Brainerd. Singer's from left are, Tara Daniels, D'Toria Elder, Enoushall Kilgore Kristina Elder and Johnson.

By Wyatt Massey January 18, 2020 3 min read

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Civil rights leader challenges Chattanooga

Staff photo by Tim Barber/ New Monumental Baptist Church Associate Joselyn Shabazz prays a Prayer of Peace Saturday morning during the Rev. Dr. Marktin Luther King Jr. Celebration Prayer Breakfast at the Greater Tucker Baptist Church in Brainerd. Chattanooga Mayor Andy Berke bows his head just behind Shabazz.

Staff photo by Tim Barber/ The singing group Visions, led by Ida E. Johnson, right, performs a spirited song,

Staff photo by Tim Barber/ Keynote speaker Dr. Catherine Meeks, center, is seen with Eric Atkins, left, Beverly Watts, of the Tennessee Human Rights Commission and Greater Tucker Missionary Baptist Pastor Gary Hathaway Saturday morning at the Rev. Dr. Marktin Luther King Jr. Celebration Prayer Breakfast at the Greater Tucker Baptist Church in Brainerd.

Staff photo by Tim Barber/ Bethel A.M.E. Church Pastor A.J. Holman, Sr., right, sings "Lift Every Voice and Sing," with Dale Troupe, center, and Rev. Dr. Eva M Settles, left, at the outset of the Rev. Dr. Marktin Luther King Jr. Celebration Prayer Breakfast at the Greater Tucker Baptist Church Saturday morning, Jan. 18, 2020, in Brainerd. Rev. Settles is Presiding Elder of the Chattanooga District, A/>M>E>’ src=”https://wehco.media.clients.ellingtoncms.com/timesfreepress/img/photos/2020/01/18/1579375554_011920b00-PrayerBreakfast_gs.01a-“/><img decoding="async" alt="Staff photo by Tim Barber/ Rodney Shannon plays piano to the opening worship song Saturday morning at the Rev. Dr. Marktin Luther King Jr. Celebration Prayer Breakfast at the Greater Tucker Baptist Church in Brainerd. Keynote speaker Dr. Catherine Meeks is seated, center, and Tucker Missionary Baptist Pastor Gary Hathaway stands and sings." src="https://wehco.media.clients.ellingtoncms.com/timesfreepress/img/photos/2020/01/18/1579375551_011920b00-PrayerBreakfast_gs.05a-"/></div> </div>

<p class="wp-block-paragraph">On a morning also filled with prayer and song, more than a hundred people gathered at Greater Tucker Missionary Baptist Church to listen to a leading civil rights activist outline what she called the difficult but necessary work for justice.</p>

<p class="wp-block-paragraph">Catherine Meeks, executive director of the Absalom Jones Center for Racial Healing in Atlanta, encouraged the audience to go beyond what is comfortable and push for justice always, not just when it is convenient.</p>

<p class="wp-block-paragraph">“What is required is that we do the work, the internal work and the external work, that brings us to a place of liberation, that makes it possible for us to be together, black and white and brown, really respecting one another and really seeing the face of God in every person and understanding that every human being is an equal human being on this planet,” Meeks said.</p>

<p class="wp-block-paragraph">Many people preach ideas of unity and love, but those concepts are not seen in our actions. No matter what people say, how they act and how the country acts is more telling, Meeks said. As a society, people need to do the internal work of recognizing their own complicity in white supremacy or their internalized oppression, she said.</p><div class="tfp-ad-slot tfp-ad-slot--300x250 is-filled" id="article-ad-380754-1" data-ad-slot="article-body">
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