At King tribute Judge Hatchett says
‘work on the dream’

By Chauncey Bailey

Dr. Martin Luther King’s dream of equality and fairness remains deterred in a nation where one in six children lives in poverty and where billions of dollars for war is a higher priority than funds for education, said Judge Glenda Hatchett during the public observance of the civil rights leader in Oakland on Tuesday.
   “We need to ask ourselves what is our reality? Many people are living a nightmare that they cannot wake up from,” Hatchett said. “What are we willing to do that will last? Twenty children die every day due to poverty in the U.S. I have seen four children who starved to death in Atlanta, including one whose mother was on crack (cocaine) who said she forgot to feed her child.”

    Speaking at the Elihu Harris State Building, the Atlanta juvenile court judge who is best known for her syndicated television program Judge Hatchett used humor and frank talk to keep her audience attentive.
    Kevin Brown of KBLX radio was among the emcees for a program that ranged from a big screen video presentation about Rosa Parks to young students reading biographical excerpts related to the mother of the civil rights movement who sparked the struggle by refusing to give up her seat on a Montgomery, Alabama bus to a white man in 1955.
    The Oakland celebration also showcased Gospel performances by the city of Oakland Employee Gospel Ensemble, a Temptations revue and speeches by Congresswoman Barbara Lee and members of the Oakland city council.
    There was also a two-person dramatic performance called “The Meeting,” which featured actors Michael Lange as Malcolm X and James Brooks as King. The play portrays a meeting of the two leaders in Harlem.
    City Councilwoman Desley Brooks said that King’s dream has not yet been fully realized in a state “where a man (Stanley Tookie Willams) is executed even though he had been rehabilitated.” She urged people to register and vote for change.
    Councilman Larry Reid said that he still recalls images of water hoses and dogs turned on civil rights protestors. “A lot of us have forgotten about the struggle,” said Reid.
    Hatchett said she remembers growing up in a segregated south when black children were denied new books. “My daddy told me to take my crayons and make my own [book],” she said. “I had learned to read by the time I was in the first grade because my mother was a teacher.”
    Hatchett recalled when it was her turn to read from a book when she was in the first grade, “the page was torn out.”
    Her teacher explained, “Colored children don’t get new books.”
   That same teacher was in the audience when Hatchett was sworn in as a judge in Atlanta. Hatchett said the United States is the richest nation in the world, but conservative leaders would rather spend money on bombs than books.
    Hatchett urged the audience to start more after-school programs that involve local elders who have skills and expertise and can become role models for young at-risk boys. Also, high school students with skills in sports, computers or music could be hired to help redirect their peers, she said.
   “If you are an honor roll student, you should work to get someone else on the honor roll, or help a D student become a C student,” she said.

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