"From Home to the Greyhound Station to Parchman Prison to Death Row: How I Became a Man at Thirteen"

Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Shabbat Service
With sermon from lifelong activist Hezekiah Watkins
Friday, January 12, 2024, 6:00 PM
In-Person and Online
Main Sanctuary

Always a highlight of the CBI calendar, our annual Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Shabbat Service honors Dr. King’s memory, work, and enduring legacy. The CBI and greater Portland communities come together for a service featuring CBI’s Kol Echad Choir, the Northwest Freedom Singers, and a keynote address, which in 2024 will be delivered by lifelong activist Hezekiah Watkins.

On July 7, 1961, at age thirteen, Watkins was as the youngest of 328 “Freedom Riders” arrested in Jackson, MS for “breach of peace” as they demonstrated against state segregation laws. Learning from Civil Rights leaders such as James Bevel, Dave Dennis, Jerome Smith Jessie Davis, and Jessie Harris, Watkins continued his fight for civil rights and justice which resulted in more than 100 arrests, experience that strengthened his commitment to improving the quality of life and opportunities for African American youth and all mankind. He presently works with The Civil Rights Museum, and his dedication to the cause of Civil Rights was recognized by Congressmen Bennie Thompson in 2012.

As in previous years, , gospel music from our own Kol Echad Choir and the NW Freedom Singers will be prominently featured. More at https://www.bethisrael-pdx.org/mlk/