Program focuses on poverty

from The Martinsville Bulletin

Part of an event honoring King

By DEBBIE HALL - Bulletin Staff Writer

The plight of Hurricane Katrina victims was used to illustrate the impact of being poor, and the understanding that whatever afflicts one afflicts all were among the concepts presented Monday at a teach-in to honor Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. at New Bethel Christian Church in Fieldale.

“If you’re poor, if you don’t have the money to get out and you’re trapped, what do you do?” asked the Rev. Mable Finney.

Both Finney and Imam James Shabazz, of the Martinsville Center of Al-Islam, were among the speakers during the program titled “Poverty: The Problem, the Pain, the Possibilities.”

A National Geographic DVD detailed the predicament confronting many Katrina victims caught in the 2005 disaster to the Christian and Muslim congregation.

“How can you discuss ‘I have a dream’ when you can’t see past your own” situation, Finney asked. “Forty percent of the population has an abundance of wealth and the middle class is being squeezed out.”

As that trend continues, the wealthy will be pitted against the poor, she said.

According to Muslim belief, “God is one and humanity is one. We all share in this life, and the circumstances of this life affect us all,” Shabazz said.

Katrina was not just a hurricane, “but also to signal something overlooked, ignored, forgotten,” Shabazz said of the poor in New Orleans and other hard-hit areas.

Although it may appear that God allows bad things to happen to good people, Shabazz said that sometimes “God permits bad things to happen (in order) to bring an awakening ... When this happened, we were shocked.”

Many of the half-million residents of New Orleans were “helpless ... without a means to leave or flee the danger,” he said. However, through the ordeal, “God opened our eyes to the plight of the poor.”

Shabazz said that while he admits poverty plagues “us as an ethnic group, I also realize it’s not just a condition” but a mindset that makes its victims feel worthless.

“But God doesn’t make trash and God doesn’t make mistakes ... we do,” Shabazz said. Quoting the Rev. Jesse Jackson, Shabazz added, “your attitude will determine your altitude.

“We must establish order and character in our life. We must believe to achieve,” he said.

However, with the breakdown of many families, “the muscles of parenthood have become weak. Whatever happened to ‘As a man thinketh, so he becomes?’” Shabazz asked.

Declaring that it is “all right to start small, but think big ... You can accomplish whatever you will ... You are somebody, bigger than the physical body God gave you,” Shabazz’s teaching garnered praise from young men congregated near the back of the church.

He encouraged those in attendance to “grow and expand. Be as big as you want to be ... Work is dignity. Work is stepping out with the other members of society. Don’t give up. We shouldn’t be quitters.”

Echoing King’s words, “Free at last,” Shabazz said “if we are free now, then we can stand up, we can stand out and we can do what’s better ... Pull yourself up by your own bootstraps.”

Nearly 40 years after King’s assassination in 1968, his legacy remains intact; the appeal of his dream and his vision have not wavered, Shabazz said.

“We thank almighty God for the life of Martin Luther King. If we forget what he stood for, then he has failed in his efforts,” Shabazz said.

Nearly 50 people attended the event, which was one of several teach-ins held throughout the area to mark Martin Luther King Jr. Day.