Martin Luther King Jr.'s birthday - a call to unity, action: Elizabeth Sullivan

In this April 3, 1968, file photo, the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. stands with other civil rights leaders on the balcony of the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tennessee, a day before he was assassinated at approximately the same place. From left are Hosea Williams, Jesse Jackson, King, and Ralph Abernathy. King is one of America's most famous victims of gun violence. Just as guns were a complicated issue for King in his lifetime, they loom large over the 30th anniversary of the holiday honoring his birthday. (Associated Press, File, 1968)

One of my first weekend assignments as a rookie reporter too many decades ago to count was a Martin Luther King Jr. celebration. The first thing that surprised me was that it was a celebration. It had been less than two decades since King had been shot to death in 1968 as he stood on the balcony of the Lorraine Motel in Memphis.
Yet, similar to Stevie Wonder's infectious MLK tribute "Happy Birthday," this celebration was all about bringing people together as a positive force for change to keep alive the spirit, memory and determination of Dr. King.
White, black, mixed-race, old, young, in-between, working-class, professionals -- it was togetherness that mattered. That was the other thing that surprised me. This was no monochromatic party. Everyone was invited.
The Rev. King was a man for all Americans, and he spoke for all Americans. He also spoke for now, with a message as uplifting and significant today as it was when he gave his last speech April 3, 1968, the day before his assassination.
But I know, somehow, that only when it is dark enough can you see the stars.
It was as if he foretold his own fate, and the fate of the rest of us in 2016, riven by prejudices spoken and unspoken, political divisions, acidic partisanship and a failure to keep in view what is in this nation's best interests -- as if a president of color doesn't have that foremost in his mind.
But this long-ago MLK day event -- before Martin Luther King Day was even officially recognized -- was also about promoting King's message in what today we would call "across many platforms," but in those days was probably imagined as reaching people where they live, via the language and mode they felt most comfortable with.
What's closed -- and what's free -- in Cleveland on Martin Luther King Jr. Day
A man of King's stature and command of words cannot be remembered prosaically. So at that event, a young man got up on stage and read a poem. I don't remember now what that poem was but it resonated as a statement of purpose and of soaring hope, and I quoted it in the article I wrote.
On the day before his death, King spoke these words:
I remember in Birmingham, Alabama, when we were in that majestic struggle there, we would move out of the 16th Street Baptist Church day after day; by the hundreds we would move out. And Bull Connor would tell them to send the dogs forth, and they did come; but we just went before the dogs singing, "Ain't gonna let nobody turn me around."
We will turn the other cheek. Yet we will prevail.
The case for celebrating Martin Luther King Jr. Day: 60-Second Know-It-All (video)
Perhaps Stevie Wonder had that in mind when he sang these words years later:
"We know the key to unify all people
Is in the dream that you had so long ago
That lives in all of the hearts of people
That believe in unity.
We'll make the dream become a reality.
I know we will,
Because our hearts tell us so."
It's not just poetry that helps us express succinctly what Dr. King had in mind. It's also music. Today, doors open at 11:30 am at Severance Hall for a free noon-to-5 p.m. celebration of King and his message via music, dance, song and the art of the spoken word -- something in which King excelled.
The dramatic arts also contribute. This year, during its 100th season, one of the nation's most honored regional theaters, the Cleveland Play House, presents "The Mountaintop," set in the Lorraine Motel the night before King's killing, in a play starting Jan. 23 and running through Feb. 14.
But this is not simply drama. It's also about the art of public action.
In a free "behind the scenes" event Saturday Feb. 6 at 11 am, the Cleveland Play House offers a morning with local community activists who are trying to recapture King's "crisis-packed" direct-action strategy for change. RSVP required at clevelandplayhouse.com/inside-cph/behind-the-scenes
"The time is overdue," sang Stevie Wonder,
"For people like me and you
Who know the way to truth
Is love and unity to all God's children
It should be a great event
And the whole day should be spent
In full remembrance
Of those who lived and died for the oneness of all people."
Yes, let us remember, and prepare for the work that lies ahead.
Elizabeth Sullivan is opinion director at cleveland.com
To reach Elizabeth Sullivan:  (216) 999-4688; esullivan@cleveland.com
This post was updated at 9:47 am to add a link to William Neff's 60-Second Know-It-All on why it's important to mark the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s birthday.