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King's words ring in
another's voice Martin Luther King Jr.'s words, spoken first in a church in Georgia in February 1968, have a message that bears repeating, despite the more than three decades that have passed since his assassination. Joe Rogers -- a husband, father and the former lieutenant governor of Colorado -- is but one new messenger. Through his organization, Dream Alive, Rogers travels the country, delivering the words of King, [emulating] down to the last long vowel the commanding boom of the slain civil rights leader. On the eve of what would have been King's 75th birthday, Rogers was at Cathedral High School. There, listeners who sat enthralled could attest to how keenly Rogers breathes new life into King's words. "He just puts you right in mind of him," said Lena Wooden, invited to the event by her daughter, a Cathedral employee. "It was excellent, every bit of it. It's going to take people like him to remind us of what Dr. King did." Rogers came to Cathedral at the invitation of Ramona Powell, the school's director of diversity. The desire, Powell said, is to snatch the past from staid textbooks and make it relevant to today's youth. "In many cases, King is just a part of history for many students," Powell said. "(Rogers) took us back in time and reminded us of the sacrifices so many made to get us to where we are today." But the teachings don't end there. "(Rogers) really charges the students with learning more about each other," Powell said. It is through that exploration, she said, that the peace and equality King championed can become even more a part of everyday life for the next generation. Rogers' presentation includes excerpts from three of King's best-known addresses: the "I Have a Dream" speech delivered at the March on Washington in 1963; a sermon at Ebenezer Baptist Church that became known as the "Drum Major Instinct"; and his "I See the Promised Land" speech delivered to striking sanitation workers in Memphis the night before he died. With a wife, three children and a law practice at home in the West, it is happenstance that Rogers has accepted the challenge of sustaining King's legacy. "I listened to an old album and just became intrigued by it," said Rogers, 39. He was a senior in college at that time. A memorial tribute was being planned and Rogers was asked to deliver the "I Have a Dream" speech at a local church. Some 1,000 people were on hand, and when Rogers took to the pulpit, it was not his soft voice, but an eerily accurate facsimile of King's that rang out. The quiet that met Rogers after he finished and went to take his seat was sustained for several minutes, he said. Then the applause came. And came. And came. "It sounds hokey, me describing it now. But something happened that evening," Rogers said after the lecture. "It was a deep burning all throughout my chest. It was something of a transformation. And it led us to create Dream Alive." The Dream Alive program, headquartered in Colorado, pairs Rogers' strengths as a public servant with his talent for voice. Each place he goes, Rogers returns to the central theme of challenging his listeners to wonder, "Is your life evidence that you've sought to do good for others?" "This program is about expanding people's lives," he said. "Even though some didn't live (the King) experience, it can have some impact on how they see the world. "I'm committed to doing this. I couldn't
think of a better way to impact young people." At 17, Ragland has only media recollections of King's work. And, in a fitting testimony to a world King had worked tirelessly to help create, Ragland said she's never personally experienced the type of prejudice that soured America in the mid-20th century. But King's message -- and Rogers' -- holds true. "I'll always remember how he died just wanting peace," Ragland said. And she'll work to effect that peace. In the end, it is what happens when a single life ends that drove King, and it's what inspires Rogers to do as the assassinated civil rights leader called all Americans to do. Stand for justice -- rather be a drum major -- for justice and peace and righteousness. In the end, leave a committed life behind.
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