Remembering the Rev. Dr. Samuel McKinney
SEATTLE -- With songs and laughter, prayer and praise-- Seattle remembered a monument of a man on Tuesday. Filling McCaw Opera Hall at the Seattle Center, people from all over the country came to remember the Rev. Dr. Samuel Berry McKinney.
"It requires an operatic life to require an opera house to celebrate you," says daughter Lora-Ellen McKinney. "And that my father had-- and operatic sweep of a life."
The 91-year-old McKinney was born and raised in Flint, Michigan, to parents deeply involved in ministry and faith. It was something he carried with him to Morehouse College in Atlanta. He attended there with the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and the two became friends during their time there. McKinney settled here in Seattle in 1957 to lead the flock at Mt. Zion Baptist Church in the Central District.
"We cannot weep that he graced us with his presence," says Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan. "His challenge, his call to be a better Seattle."
Rev. McKinney being interviewed by Q13 News a week before his death. Photo: Mike McCarty, Q13 News
But, McKinney's influence grew far greater than his congregation.
"To me, Dr. McKinney was the great igniter," says Larry Gossett, who sits on the King County Council.
Gossett listed off a litany of accomplishments and successful campaigns to instigate change in Seattle and our region. "And inspired all the rest of us that are just a little bit younger to continue that movement of social change in this community."
A life and legacy of activism -- fighting racial injustice and poverty. Not just for the African-American community -- but for all people. A torch this crowd was challenged to pick up and continue onward.
"Don’t claim how much you love Dr. McKinney and not honor him without fighting for policies that assist poor people and laws that lift up those who are locked
out and locked up," says the Rev. Dr. Reginald Williams of the First Baptist Church of University Park, Illinois. "Don't sing his praises today, then not fight for what he fought for when you leave this place."
Those in attendance were all given pens with lights on them and as the lights dimmed, the message appeared that was often repeated by McKinney, "Be the light."
Last week, Durkan ordered the Mt. Zion Baptist Church be declared a historic monument in the city of Seattle. It already sits on a stretch of 19th Avenue that bears McKinney's name.
McKinney died on April 7.