A Cape Girardeau church will mark the 50th anniversary of the March On Washington with a special ceremony Wednesday evening.
The St. James African Methodist Episcopal Church at 516 North Street will host the commemorative program Wednesday, August 28 at 7:00. Dr. Ron Webb will be the keynote speaker.
St. James’ pastor, Reverend Rodney Moody, said some of the people who participated in the march will be at Wednesday’s ceremony.
“We will recognize them, as well as see what we can do collectively to make it better, even right here in our own community in Cape Girardeau,” Reverend Moody said. “What can we do to bridge the gap? Some between young and old, some between male and female. What can we do to really better our community? And that’s what civil rights are really all about.”
Moody said it’s important for young people to learn about the Civil Rights Movement because so many things that are taken for granted now wouldn’t have happened half a century ago.
“There were times where we couldn’t go to the same schools. We could not go to the same restaurants. That may seem irrelevant today, but it’s important to know your history so you can appreciate how far we have come as a nation,” Moody said.
Moody said there has been a lot of progress since the 1960’s, but there is still a lot of civil rights work to be done. He cited high unemployment, continuing social struggles, the education system and the soaring cost of higher education as areas that need to be tackled.
Reverend Moody believes the greatest civil rights challenge of today is equal rights for all people, regardless of sexual orientation.
“Regardless of how a person feels, that does not give us the right to treat anyone differently because they may not see or believe the same as we believe,” Moody said. “As a Christian myself, the greatest Commandment that Jesus said was to love the Lord, and love your neighbor as you love yourself. If I truly live that, then although we may not see eye-to-eye on things, I should still want what’s best for you and I should still want you to be treated just as fairly as I am being treated. And I think that is something that we struggle with in our society today.”
The March on Washington program is sponsored by the Dr. Martin Luther King, Junior Citywide Celebration Committee.