Amid the speeches from preachers and politicians across the city celebrating the legacy of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. on Monday was a moving tribute from a 7-year-old boy barely old enough to understand the issue of civil rights.
But there he was, young Jeremiah Chadwick, in a Harlem pulpit reciting the words to King’s iconic “I Have a Dream” speech, without a note or a flashcard to guide him.
Jeremiah had seen Internet video of children performing the speech, and convinced his parents that he could do it.
“We taught him about Martin Luther King early on,” said Jeremiah’s father, Timothy Chadwick, after a King-holiday service at Harlem’s Convent Avenue Baptist Church. “We wanted him to know that people try to help each other. Martin Luther King tried to help all people, not just black people. We didn’t want him to grow up thinking that people can’t work together.”
Hundreds of protesters used the occasion to “raise awareness” of alleged police brutality, marching across the city from Harlem to the UN to Foley Square.
“I think this movement has been going on for a long time and the recent events have been a spark,” said Abe Greene, a housing lawyer from Crown Heights. “I really want to be part of the change in history that we bring about through community organizing and people power.”
At a King Day ceremony at the Brooklyn Academy of Music, Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams defended Mayor de Blasio against police-union critics upset over the mayor’s perceived lack of support for cops.
“Unions should always fight for their members, but they should never get it twisted,” Adams said. “When it’s time to determine what policies are going to impact the people of the City of New York, I did not elect the PBA. I elected the mayor.”
President Obama celebrated the holiday by assembling “literacy kits” at a Boys & Girls Club to help young kids improve their reading and writing skills.
“Our nation has made undeniable progress since his time, but securing these gains requires constant vigilance,” Obama said.
Across the country, moviegoers filled theaters to see “Selma,” the film about King’s voting-rights crusade. But the son of another civil- rights giant had a message for moviegoers: Save your money.
“The ‘Selma’ movie got it wrong,” the Rev. Ralph David Abernathy III said in a speech at the Convent church event. He said the film minimizes the role of his dad, the Rev. Ralph David Abernathy, by portraying him as a mere underling.
Additional reporting by Priscilla DeGregory and Kathleen Culliton
