A prominent Chicago activist and priest, Father Michael Pfleger said he wouldn’t be where he is today if it weren’t for his hero Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.
“This is the man who is the reason I am a priest today,” Pfleger told NBC 5.
King’s presence is undeniable at Saint Sabina Church. Photos of him hang in hallways and even on the desk of the church’s now-iconic priest.
But when Pfleger was asked to speak to the thousands who traveled across the country to Memphis to honor King on the 50th anniversary of his assassination, he had his doubts.
“My first reaction? There is no way I can do this or deserve to be doing this,” Pfleger said of his role in the national commemoration.
But with so much ugliness in the world lately, Pfleger said he knew he needed to step up.
“This man gave his life for justice - and then look now 50 years later, what happened? We dropped the ball... we dropped the ball,” he said. “[King] gave us a blueprint and we put away on some shelf.”
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But when he speaks Wednesday, Pfleger said it will be about more than just commemoration, it will be about commitment.
“If we really want to truly honor him, we need to live like him- pick up his mantle and do the things he called us to do -- to live and fight for justice every single day,” Pfleger said.
Pfleger is scheduled to speak at 5:30 p.m. Wednesday at the National Civil Rights Museum. The speech will end at 6:01 p.m., the exact time that King was assassinated. His speech will be followed by the ringing of a bell 39 times, one for each year that King lived.
