Union Bethel Hosts MLK Celebration
Like the Connectional Church, Union Bethel AME Church in New Orleans, Louisiana, was born out of sociological differences. Our beautiful edifice with roughly a 1,500-seat capacity and its location in the Central Business District made it a prime, accessible location where meetings for various boycotts and marches were planned and staged. Union Bethel was the place where participants generally came to receive instruction and inspiration as well as the venue of choice for mass meetings in the city.
On January 12, 2020, the City of New Orleans’ Martin Luther King, Jr. Holiday Planning Commission held its 34th Annual Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial Service at Union Bethel. It was the beginning of numerous planned events throughout the city in honor and recognition of Dr. King. The Memorial Message, “Don’t Give Up the Fight,” was taken from Ephesian 6:10-2 and given by our pastor, the Rev. Keith J. Sanders, Ph.D. He challenged the mayor, police chief, elected officials, and the congregation to keep pushing through our plight for equality.
New Orleans and its mayor, LaToya Cantrell, recognized the historical significance Union Bethel played during the height of the modern civil rights movement. It was in December 1961, when Union Bethel hosted its most famous speaker, Dr. King. He had been scheduled to speak at the Municipal Auditorium as the keynote to an event sponsored by the Consumers League of Greater New Orleans. However, the city rescinded permission on the day of the event once they learned that Dr. King was the speaker.
The matter went through the courts during the day, with the courts siding with the city two-and-a-half hours before the program was set to begin. At the time, the pastor of Union Bethel was the Rev. Lutrelle G. Long. Pastor Long stepped forward and offered the use of the church. The evening began at the Municipal Auditorium, where hundreds gathered and marched through the Business District to Union Bethel.
Dr. King, from the church’s pulpit, issued a call for a new “emancipation proclamation.” The president, he said, should issue an executive order “declaring all segregation unconstitutional on the basis of the 14thAmendment… Abraham Lincoln merely freed the Negroes from the bondage of physical slavery. Segregation is slavery covered up with the nicety of complexities.”
As we enter our church’s 158th year and 137th year planted on the corner of Thalia and South Liberty Streets, we are proud that in 2007, the church and the Four Freedom’s Building were listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Its significance rests in the original civil rights movement as well as a modern civil rights movement. As we continue to reflect the basic beliefs of the AME Church, “God our Father, Christ Our Redeemer, Holy Spirit Our Comforter, Humankind Our Family,” we will continue to be the heartbeat of the community where we are planted.
WDSU news clips from the MLK Memorial Service
