Memphis em]
?
B^Thr Awocttgd PressMEMPHIS,
Tenn. -- City
employees in the town where
Martin Luther King Jr. was killed
htfve decided after all to take off
thfc same day the rest of the nation
celebrates the civil rights
leader's birth, a union leader
says.
Early last week it was unclear
whether the employees would
observe a holiday on Jan. 19 or
tafce off as usual in April on the
ai&iiversary of King's murder.
James Smith, executive directof
of* Local 1733 of the Americn
Federation of State, County and
Municipal Employees, said last
Thursday that union members
to#k a vote on which holiday they
prefer.
' The vote was overwhelming
to> observe Jan. 19 instead of
*
A
Flo. justice u,
By The Associated Press
. : ?- ?? ? ?
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. -Despite
a request from Florida's
clief justice that all state circuit
celirts observe the national holiday
for slain civil rights leader
Martin Luther King Jr., some
courts will remain open Jan. 19.
! Orange-Osceola Chief Judge
Gjeorge Diamantis told ~ The
Orlando Sentinel recently that he
has left rescheduling case loads at
th? discretion of the circuit's 20
jiidges. He said it would be impossible
to reschedule all the
iqses on such short notice, and
s0me courts must remain open
fdf emergency hearings.
Of the remaining 19 circuit
courts in the state, 13 will be closet)
for all but emergency hearings
oft King's birthday, their ad^
| mlnistrators said.
JThree circuit courts -- in
Jacksonville, St. Petersburg and
Bftrtow - will not observe the
holiday at all.
!Of the state's five appellate
cdprts, two will be closed, one
wnl be open but will not schedule
a^ hearings, and two are
I undecided, The Sentinel reported
laje last week.
?4We're not like a supermarket
that can just shut its doors," said
B|P Lockhart, administrator of
tty? 6th Circuit, which covers
mil * r? ??? '
rprco ana rineiias counties.
TT
"tye'vc got people who want
thjcir cases decided."
Chief Justice Parker Lee
N^aDonald wrote administrators
1
ft1. M.L. King Jr.
I
tijne capsule
1<jt be planted
5/ASHINGTON - The Martin
Liigher King Federal Holiday
Commission recently announced
thil a Martin Luther King 4 Time
Capsule" will ^be implanted in
cetjtral Washington this year and
wifr remain tmderground for 100 yeirs.
the capsule will contain
I UM!- -U- U..
mcinurauiua tiiuscn uy
Mflj^Coretta Scott King, as well
asiphotos, videos and audio
tapis, filmstrips, speeches and
serihons, all depicting national
hi^orical ?vents highlighting the
wo^k of Martin Luther King Jr.
%ief audio statements by
worJd and national leaders,
hisforians, educators, children
an<|-working men and women on
the$ife and legacy of Dr. King
wilfcbe included in the capsule.
the time capsule will also contaii
a miniature Liberty Bell, on
w h|h will be inscribed ttje
farQous "Let Freedom Ring'*
pastage from King's "I Have a
DH^m" speech. With the aid of
computer technology, thousands
of < names will be
4<la|er-inscribedM on the bell.
Th*c will all be unearthed and
transcribed for the information
of Jbture generations.
lite commission considers this
T .
I a npst unusual and appropriate
perpetuation of Martin Luther
Kinj's memory.
ployees to nu
#
April 4M as the holiday, Smith
said.
Hn COtH tVia uia>Umo ...MI
?? >>hiu inv n ui KC1S Will SU11
have April 4 off.
"But we arc going to take
vacation days or unpaid days
off," he said.
King's birthday is Jan. 15, but
under federal law, the national
holiday comes on the nearest
Monday, which is Jan. 19 this
year.
The civil rights leader was shot
to death in 1968 while standing
on the balcony of a Memphis
motel.
James Earl Ray, a prison
escapee from Missouri, pleaded
guiuy iu fining King and is serving
a life prison sentence.
Since 1977, members of
Smith's local have taken the anniversary
of the King assassination
as a paid holiday.
rges respect j
of the state's 20 circuit courts
Dec. 22, less than a month before
the Jan. 19 holiday honoring
King.
4 The failure of the court
system to observe (the holiday)
would cause unnecessary
criticism of the courts and
adversely affect our public rela-1
tions," he wrote. "If you have
not already done so, plan for this
holiday to be properly
observed." The
anniversary of King's Jan.
15, 1929, birth was first observed
as a federal holiday in 1986. Congress
designated the third Monday
or each January as the holiday,
but Florida has not officially
adopted it for state employees.
A law passed last year forces
the state executive branch to use
one of its two floating holidays
on Jan. 19 this year, but it does
not apply to the courts or county
'IH
DR
(August 28,
Wa
HIG
I HAVE A
dream that on<
exalted and evt
made low. Th<
straight, and "t
revealed, and a
This is our hop
LET FREE1
from the prodi j
shire; let freedo
tains of New Y
heightentng All
freedom ring fr
of Colorado; le
vaceous slopes
that. Let freedt
of Georgia, let
Mountain of Te
every hill and m
And when i
every hamlet, f
black men and
in the words of t
>
!
?8?r% Roebuck and
*
irk King day
The 7,000-mcmber local has
l,suu city employees.
Early last week, city officials
said they would not go along with
the national holiday unless union
members agreed to give up April
4 as a paid day off. Members of
the City Council said the city cannot
afford the $600,000 cost of a
second holiday.
Last Monday, Smith said he
thought Memphis should observe
both anniversaries because King
died in the city.
"It didn't surprise me," he
said of the union* vote. "I'm
elated that they did.
"I think the administration
wanted to have Jan. 19 because
that's the national holiday. We
are elated that we are going to be
off on Dr. King's birthday in line
with the rest of the nation," he
said.
for holiday
.governments, many of which
plan to do business.
"We have not appropriately
planned for it. ... But in the
future that is going to be corrected,"
McDonald wrote in his
prodding letterr which was
unwelcome news for administrators
who have filled
court dockets for the day with
ongoing cases.
Officials said they had made
independent plans long before
the arrival of McDonald's letter.
"It's not an absolute declaration,"
the chief justice said. "But
it is as strong as I can persuade
without making it an absolute
order."
The letter was prompted by
complaints from State Rep. AJzq
Reddick, D-Orlando, who was
unhappy that the Orange-Osceola
circuit court- was not respecting
the holiday.
n;=?>.V
[AVE A
IE AM'
1963; Lincoln Memorial
ishington, D. C.)
rHLIGHTS
DREAM TODAY! I hav
i day "every valley shall
;ry hill and mountain shall
; rough places will be m
hf* alnrv nf th#* I r*rH chill
V ^IX/I J v/1 VI IV LVV1U J1 IUI 1
ill flesh shall see it togeth<
e.
DOM RING! Let freedom i
gious hilltops- of New Hai
m ring from the jnighty jho
ork; let freedom ring from
leghenies of Pennsylvania;
om the snow-capped Rod
rfreedom ring from the <
of California. But not c
>m ring from Stone Mouni
freedom ring from Look
nnessee; let freedom ring fi
ountainside, let freedom rii
this happens, and when w
rom every state and every
white men, Jews and Gei
he old Negro spiritual: "Fr
Co., 1987
./ i
\
The Chr<
$
,
>
' y<> N> ' \ '. a-illwK'.v ^'
J| I v
9 ^jL>
Eyes On The Prize v ^
America's Civil Rights Years, 1954-1965
Freedom Riders John Lewis, left, and Jim Zwerg aft
Ala., as they took part in the 1961 Freedom Rides that
transportation to the South. Freedom Rides and lun<
Scared of Your Jails, 196Q^1961," the third part of 1
Years. 1954r1965," airing Wednesday, Feb. 4, on PBS
"... It's one of the strangest t
military geniuses of the world ha
The conquerors of old who c<
of peace, Alexander, Julius Cae
Napoleon, ^were akin in seeki
order ...
... What is the problem? They i
as a distant goal, as an end we
must come to see that peace is nc
we seek, but that it is a means by
goal. We must pursue peaceful1
means. All of this is saying that
means and ends must cohere b<
existent in the means, and ultimo
cannot bring about constructive
hyatt@winst<
' . (
L
I*
be jB
ade ^
upun
I
the
i??
I Ikl
?nly
tain
out
om
^
e allow freedom to ring, when we let it rin
' city, we will be able to speed up that day
ntiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be ab
ee at last. Free at last. Thank God Almighty, vn
4
*
I
/ ' c
' ' 1
I
jnlc^nuir^aY^anuarv 15, 1987-Page_Q7
^ ^ i/fjEr"""" *
-^^ rT :>c%
Hm ' m
prt k-j J
, WPVPIPSPVPW^K. _ 1HHHPVI
er being beaten by a mob in Montgomery*:
ultimately brought integration of Interstate
ch-counter sit-ins are the subject of "Ain't
'Eyes on the Prize: America's Civil Rights
> (photo by the Nashville Tennessean).
w
hings^hatT^
ive talked about peace. .
ime killing in pursuit S.
;sar, Charlemagne and
ng a peaceful world are
talking about peace
seek, but orte day we
)t merely a distant goal
which we arrive at (hat
ends through peaceful
, in the final analysis,
ecause the end is preitely
destructive means
ends."
Dr. Martin L. King, 1967 _? I
dn-Salem _
?
0
?
g from every village and
when all God's children,
le to join handstand sing
/e are free at last."
SEARS
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