Civil rights on the red carpet: Freedom Awards honor 3 icons
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Ken Makin Cultural commentator
| Memphis, Tenn.
The FedExForum usually houses the NBA鈥檚 Memphis Grizzlies. On this particular day, the keepers of a dream held court. Yes, that dream 鈥� the one conjured up by Martin Luther King Jr.
Three of those keepers 鈥� civil rights advocate Xernona Clayton, attorney Sherrilyn Ifill, and filmmaker Spike Lee 鈥� were on hand to shape the next generation of change-makers. The Freedom Award Student Forum gave high school students the chance to speak with the iconic trio only hours before they are presented with the prestigious Freedom Award by the National Civil Rights Museum.
That evening, on the red carpet near the Orpheum Theatre, one of the stars of 鈥淩ush Hour鈥� is escorting the iconic Mrs. Clayton. Chris Tucker, a native son of Atlanta, never strays too far away from his comedic roots. As a DJ plays Michael Jackson鈥檚 鈥淒on鈥檛 Stop 鈥檛il You Get Enough,鈥� Mr. Tucker, a friend and proud mimic of the late pop star, goes into one of the King of Pop鈥檚 trademark shimmies.
Why We Wrote This
A story focused onThe Freedom Award is the National Civil Rights Museum鈥檚 signature fundraiser. A closer look at its recipients shows the relics and relevance of an age-old dream.
When asked about another Atlanta civil rights icon, the late Congressman John Lewis, Mr. Tucker grew serious. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 another [legend]. ... Becoming his friend and having him as a mentor, it鈥檚 a blessing,鈥� Mr. Tucker says. 鈥淗e lived a whole life of service. He was a great example for my generation and the generation after me.鈥�
Less than a mile from the Orpheum is the National Civil Rights Museum, which is housed at the Lorraine Motel, the site of Dr. King鈥檚 assassination. A few steps before the glass door entrance at the museum, there is a wreath and a harrowing marker, which includes these lines from the book of Genesis:
They said one to another,
Behold, here cometh the dreamer 鈥�
Let us slay him 鈥�
And we shall see what will become of his dreams
It鈥檚 impossible to separate Dr. King, the museum, and these awards. They鈥檙e all part of perhaps the most recognizable movement in this country鈥檚 history.
Mrs. Clayton鈥檚 presence is reflective of this movement and how it鈥檚 changed over time. A native of Muskogee, Oklahoma, the 94-year-old moved from Chicago to Atlanta in 1965 and joined the Southern 海角大神 Leadership Conference. She worked closely with both Kings 鈥� Martin and Coretta Scott 鈥� in the midst of her own broadcasting career, which began in 1967. Mrs. Clayton was the first Black person in the South to have her own TV show. While she worked for 30 years with Turner Broadcasting System聽and became an executive in 1988, she never forgot her community. She created the Trumpet Awards in 1993 to honor Black achievements.
How a knife launched a mission
After she received her Freedom Award, Mrs. Clayton reflected on a life of defiance and determination, a story that stemmed from a white butcher pulling a knife on her and her twin sister and their boyfriends at a restaurant many years ago.
鈥淭o this day, that look of a knife and a white man telling you, 鈥榊ou don鈥檛 belong here,鈥� still bothers me after all these years I鈥檝e been living,鈥� she said in her speech. 鈥淎nd while I could sit around and brood about it, I decided I鈥檓 gonna do something about this to relieve myself of this pain. And I started then, and it continues today every time I see or hear, feel, or determine that there鈥檚 a move somewhere in my society that prevents me from being a full and qualified citizen.鈥�
She also talked about fighting dragons, a commentary reflective of her influence on the late Calvin Craig, the former Grand Dragon of the Ku Klux Klan. Mr. Craig famously denounced the klan the same month Dr. King was assassinated, and credited Mrs. Clayton鈥檚 influence.
鈥淚 have adopted that philosophy that if you can, you will. If you want to, you will. I鈥檒l continue to do that as long as I live, to rid society from the dragons of prejudice,鈥� she said. 鈥淎nd I had an excellent partner in Martin Luther King Jr., whom I brought to Memphis that awful year that we wish we could forget. ... He was doing what we both knew we had to do, that when you find pockets of prejudice, you keep on fighting, don鈥檛 give up. The victory will be yours in the end.鈥�
Mr. Lee has made an entire career of narrative building 鈥� and rebuilding. Still, there鈥檚 one dark date in American history that speaks for itself 鈥� April 4, 1968. Mr. Lee, who was 11, remembers it like it was yesterday.
鈥淚 was sitting on my stoop. ... I heard a woman screaming and then she walked towards our house. It was my mother screaming,鈥� he recalled. 鈥淎nd I鈥檇 never seen my mother that hysterical. 鈥楾hey killed him. They killed him. They killed Dr. King.鈥欌��
Like Dr. King, Mr. Lee was a Morehouse man born in Atlanta. The filmmaker鈥檚 career has notably dealt with race relations and events specific to the Civil Rights Movement. As relates to Dr. King, Mr. Lee鈥檚 portrayal of 鈥淢alcolm X鈥� in 1992 might seem more ironic, but no less relevant. Mr. Lee also directed and produced a documentary about the 16th Street Baptist Church bombing, 鈥�4 Little Girls.鈥�
One of Mr. Lee鈥檚 quotes about America and its treatment of Black people rang out before he was presented with the Freedom Award: 鈥淭his United States of America [was] never set up for us to succeed. It was not meant for us to thrive. Now yes, things have changed, more opportunities, but the barricades are still there. And so, once you know the plan, the game, you can move accordingly.鈥�
鈥淲e are called on ... to make a new American democracy鈥�
Back in 2016, Sherrilyn Ifill about her cousin, Gwen, a media icon who died that November.
鈥淢y cousin, Gwen, and I were the daughters of two immigrant brothers, who were driven by their faith in God, their love for family, for black people, and by their ambition and determination,鈥� she wrote for The American Prospect. 鈥淭hey also believed deeply in the idea of America 鈥� even with all its flaws, and they made us, their many children, believe in it too.鈥�
After she received the Freedom Award, Ms. Ifill spoke about democracy in a spirit that Dr. King described as 鈥渢he fierce urgency of now.鈥� What resulted was a soul-stirring challenge to not only attendees, but the country itself.
鈥淚鈥檓 not trying to restore American democracy. I鈥檓 not trying to bring it back like it was. I loved Barack Obama too, but I鈥檓 not trying to be back like it was when he was president,鈥� she said. 鈥淲hat we are called on to do is to make a new American democracy, and to do this, we need power.鈥�
鈥淛ust as those who came before us, it鈥檚 now time for us to walk in our rightful position as founding mothers and fathers of the new American democracy. ... We are being called upon in this moment to do so,鈥� she said. 鈥淚鈥檓 not sad because it is only when the old shows itself to be no longer tenable for the majority that people鈥檚 ears and eyes are open to true transformation. This is our moment.
鈥淲e鈥檙e being called upon to bring our radical democratic imagination to push this country into a new, more dynamic place of democracy,鈥� she continued.
Ms. Ifill鈥檚 optimism, tinged with a no-nonsense approach to oppression, is what makes her the Legal Defense Fund鈥檚 , currently serving as president and director-counsel emeritus. She encouraged those in attendance to 鈥渙verlay our power with love.鈥�
鈥淭here鈥檚 strength in love. We must have power and we must have love,鈥� she said. 鈥淒r. King said it clearly. He said, power without love is reckless and abusive. Love without power, he said, is sentimental and anemic.鈥�
If the morning鈥檚 student forum was any indication, the heroes of tomorrow are already meeting the moment. Three continued their proud social justice legacy.
Where Mr. Lee through the window in 鈥淒o the Right Thing,鈥� Corey Irby, a senior at East T-STEM Academy High School, did the opposite. Mr. Irby planned and led a nationally awarded cleanup effort. Ms. Ifill, with the NAACP鈥檚 Legal Defense Fund, was not the only attorney celebrated this day. Maria Machado, a student attorney and senior at Central High School, co-founded Soy Mia, a nonprofit providing free menstrual products across Memphis, focusing on the Hispanic community.
Like Mrs. Clayton, the third honoree, Adaria Crutcher, worked tirelessly toward the preservation of Dr. King鈥檚 dream. But Adaria鈥檚 sense of loss mirrored that of Bernice King 鈥� the death of her father.
鈥淲hen my dad passed away in 2021, it was super hard for me to cope,鈥� says Ms. Crutcher, a senior at White Station High School. 鈥淚 realized that lots of kids just throughout my community, they don鈥檛 know how to properly react to their emotions. They either just suffocate them, or they try to ignore them, but that鈥檚 never a good thing.鈥�
She turned tragedy into triumph with two of her classmates as they created a 鈥渟afe environment鈥� for students who experience suicidal thoughts. The name of their project? Storyunfinished.
