Dr. Virgil A. Wood, a co-laboring minister with Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. for 10 years during the Civil Rights Movement, arrives in Birmingham April 12-13 to launch a renewed campaign to complete Dr. King’s unfinished work.
Dr. Wood has called a two-day convocation, “Remembrance & Re-Dedication: The 2013 Civil Rights Jubilee Celebration,” to begin the process of crafting an economic plan that affirmatively addresses poverty and cures the resulting social ills that disproportionately plague the African American community.
Dr. King began turning his attention to this area as the Civil Rights Movement progressed in the late 1960s. Dr. Wood was among those ministers who were helping him lay out an agenda that would move African Americans closer to “The Promised Land” of economic parity. But that movement essentially ended with Dr. King’s assassination on April 4, 1968.
Since that time, Dr. Wood has worked tirelessly toward that goal. He continued his education in economics at Harvard University and worked with other Movement ministers who soldiered on and built effective economic strategies that didn’t receive national attention. He is now poised to bring all the pieces of the puzzle together in a first national push to launch Fulfilling the Unfulfilled Dream Campaign to renew the process that King started before his death.
“For some time, we’ve been getting together with people around the country who are solving some part of the poverty dilemma,” he says. “We’ve just been waiting for some catalyzing factor that brings us all together to free the dream of leaving scarcity behind and reaching for abundance, for African Americans and for all people.”
The summit comes as the City of Birmingham commemorates the 50th Anniversary of its pivotal role in the Civil Rights Movement in 1963, where thousands of non-violent protestors were arrested, including children and Dr. King himself. In April 1963, Dr. King penned his famous “Letter from Birmingham Jail” to ministers critical of the mass demonstrations in Birmingham.
The summit opens with a church-style celebration and features Dr. Bryan Stevenson, President and Founder of the Equal Justice Institute in Montgomery. The second day includes a panel of thinkers and activists in areas including social justice, economics, community building, medicine and law who will discuss ways to begin the economic movement.
Dr. Wood’s convocation comes in advance of a two-day symposium by Christian Churches Together in the U.S.A. in Birmingham. The organization will release an updated response to Dr. King’s “Letter.” Dr. Wood is among the featured speakers, including long-time civil rights activists Dorothy Cotton and U.S. Rep. John Lewis, and the Rev. Bernice King, daughter of Dr. King.
The Details:
REMEMBRANCE & RE-DEDICATION: The 2013 Civil Rights Jubilee Convocation
In Honor of the 50th Anniversary of the 1963 Birmingham Movement
Epicenter of the Modern Civil & Human Rights Movement Worldwide
Location: First United Presbyterian Church of Forestdale
1375 Tomahawk Road, Birmingham, 35214
Friday Evening, April 12, 2013, 7:00 PM
Speakers Include
-Mr. Bryan Stevenson, President and Founder
Equal Justice Institute, Montgomery
-Rev. Dr. Aaron Dobynes, Former Pastor
Tabernacle Baptist Church, Selma
Launching
“FULFILLING THE UNFULFILLED DREAM” CAMPAIGN
Economic Advancement as the Next Phase
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Saturday Afternoon, April 13, 2013, 12:30 PM to 5:00 PM
Luncheon Session
“Freeing the Dream” Power Paper by Dr. Virgil A. Wood
A Blueprint for A Six-Dimensional Framework To Fix What’s Broken in Am-African Communities (How Rev. Shuttlesworth and A.G. Gaston Answered the Question)
Afternoon Session
Why The Economic Harvest Can’t Wait: Building A Stronger Economic Base
Panel Discussion featuring:
Dr. Greg Bailey – Minister, Economist, and Attorney
Ms Catherine Coleman-Flowers – Equal Justice Institute
Dr. Lonnie Hannon – Professor, Tuskegee University
Ms Gwen Austin – Professor, Miles College
Rev. Samuel Collins, III – Galveston, Texas, Juneteenth Leader
Mr. Bernard A. Sewell, Senior Deacon, Dexter King Memorial Baptist Church
Bishop Don Williams, Bread For The World, Washington, DC
Ms Shirley Cherry, Martin Luther King Parsonage Museum, Montgomery
Dr. Owen C. Cardwell, Jr., New Jubilee, Richmond, Virginia
Mr. Joel Slack, Respect International, Montgomery (Invited)
Mr. Fred Stawitz, Restoration Jubilee, Houston
World Café:
Where Now Do We Go From Here?
Community Discussion with Moderator Rev. Russell Meyers, Executive Director, Florida Council of Churches
