Celebrating the Man Behind the Dreamer

By Oliver Lukacs

Jan. 20 -- In a spirited sermon-like speech that roused the crowd from its pews, former Samohi principal Dr. Sylvia Rousseau capped the Martin Luther King Jr. weekend Monday by urging that the "media-conjured" image of the civil rights icon as a dreamer be cast aside to reveal his true legacy.

Rousseau, who left a progressive legacy of her own before stepping down 2 ½ years ago, called upon the hundreds huddled in the First Methodist Church to denounce in Dr. King's spirit the impending war on Iraq, cancel Africa's debt and "challenge the state-budget that leaves our children in dire need."

Speaking under a ghostly black and white painting of a wild-eyed King hanging under a sun-filled stain-glass portrait of Jesus, Rousseau's "The Soul and The Spirit of the Man" speech challenged those congregated to "delve" beyond the decades-old dreamer image.

Rousseau, whose presided over a historic rise in SAT scores and a dramatic plunge in the dropout rate (from 9 to 1 percent) during her seven years as principal of Samohi warned that "we might find we've been celebrating the wrong man."

Marking its 18th year, the annual event produced by the MLK Westside Coalition, the City of Santa Monica and Santa Monica College, coincided with many nation-wide celebrations of the 74th birthday of Dr. King, who was born in Atlanta, Georgia in 1929.

Rousseau, an LAUSD district 1 local superintendent, said that through the "proliferation of literature, speeches, and children's plays, in which the line 'I have a dream' is quoted often out of context," the "media-conjured" image of King as a "dreamer" had been made "a symbol without substance."

"Martin Luther King was much more than a dreamer," said Rousseau, resurrecting instead the unconventional image of a revolutionary labeled as a communist for denouncing the Vietnam war, American imperialism and militarism.

King, Rousseau noted, fought not only for the rights of blacks, but also for native Americans, poor whites and underpaid farm workers.

King's sense of a "universe governed by moral law, bent towards justice, and shaped by love" guided his "movement so morally driven that it shamed a nation into change," Rousseau said.

In celebrating King and his legacy of non-violent political action "we are duty-bound to call on every national leader to carefully examine and responsibly communicate the reasons for the impending war around the globe," said Rousseau, sparking a thunderclap of applause.

"We must make a commitment to Africa" to cancel the debt and to end the AIDS crisis, she said, adding that the same continent Western civilization plundered for its riches is now in debt to its exploiters. "When will Africa ever collect her debt?" Rousseau asked.

The end of her speech was immediately followed by the a cappella gospel vocals of the eight-man New Directions chorus, an assemblage of former homeless converts.

Their soulful rendition to handclaps of the civil rights freedom song "We Shall Over Come" evoked a southern Baptist Sunday revival, sending hundreds of interlocked multi-colored hands skyward swaying side to side like a giant wave.

Mayor Richard Bloom, who with Mayor Pro Tem Kevin McKeown joined in the sing-along, were present to receive a Community Light Award on behalf of the City. Santa Monica was recognized for its 18-year-long "fiscal and human resources" commitment to keeping alive the legacy of Dr. King by supporting the MLK Westside Coalition.

As part of its continuing support, the City Council unanimously voted in December to name the auditorium that will house important community and social events in the proposed $57 million Main Public Library after Dr. King, McKeown said.

Community Light Awards and MLK Scholarships were also given to local students who demonstrated excellence in education and community involvement.

Melvon George, who with the support of the Pico Partnership has excelled academically at SMC, where he founded the first NAACP chapter, also received a Community Light Award.

Dr. King "is basically a mentor to me," George said, "somebody I mold myself after to try to accomplish the same type of things."

George, like many others at the event, said Dr. King's commitment to non-violence inspired him to participate in the recent anti-war rallies in front of the Westwood Federal Building and in Los Angeles.

Oscar de la Torre, who was a mentor to George at the Pico community center, agreed with Rousseau, that in the current political climate "what [King] stood for would be labeled unpatriotic."

De la Torre, who was elected to the School Board in November, cited the Bush administration's pro-war and anti-affirmative action platform as "things that MLK stood against."

"We know the system," he said, referring to the forces behind the constantly reinforced image of King as a dreamer.

Asked why there has been no public outcry in the black community against President Bush's anti-affirmative action stance, Estella Burnett, MLK scholarship committee chair and longtime Santa Monica resident, echoed the message delivered by Rousseau, who is a past recipient of the Community Light Award.