KING'S DREAM EULOGIZED LOCALLY; 'STILL A LONG WAY TO GO,' SAYS SPEAKER

Americans must be "a chip off the old dream" of racial equality advocated by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. if they want to keep alive King's vision, Cincinnati lawyer Leslie Isaiah Gaines said Monday.

Gaines, a former judge, spoke to some 500 people at the 14th annual Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Breakfast at the Show Me Center.

An evangelist, motivational speaker and radio talk-show host, Gaines grew up in rural Spring, Md. He graduated from high school in 1963 and was active in the civil rights movement as a student at Maryland State College.

Gaines was appointed judge of the Hamilton County (Ohio) Municipal Court in March 1993 and was elected to a six-year term in 1995. He resigned in February 1996 to become an evangelist and motivational speaker.

"We have come a long way in brotherhood, but we still have a long way to go," he told the crowd gathered to remember the slain civil rights leader.

Gaines said Americans of all races and cultures should be proud of their heritage. He said King's dream of equality didn't involve a melting pot but rather a stew that includes everyone's heritage.

"I love being in that stew," said Gaines. "You have a right to the history and heritage of your own people," he said.

People should hold onto their heritage, no matter the flavor. They must guard against "the debilitating disease of cultural amnesia," he said.

"To be a chip off the old dream, we have to wake up and dream again," said Gaines.

Human rights gains in recent decades have lulled many young people to sleep, he said. They don't know about their own heritage, he said.

Too many young people are "asleep" on drugs or alcohol, Gaines said.

"We must plant dreams into the minds of our children," he said.

Children need to wake up and get an education, said Gaines. "There is no limit to what you can do if you get your education."

Gaines said people should keep true to their dreams. He said he pursued his dream of a college education despite advice of a high school counselor who told him he wasn't cut out for college.

"God has a way of making dreams reality," said Gaines. "Don't let anyone crush out your dreams."

Gaines said King didn't give up his dream despite physical attacks. "Fire hoses could not crush the dream for freedom out of his body," said Gaines. "Jail cells could not crush it out of him."

He said both blacks and whites fought for civil rights.

"If the dream of Dr. King is to live, it has to live in your mind," he said.

A criminal lawyer, Gaines has been affectionately called the "pit-bull, Rottweiler, junkyard dog of justice."

Gaines said he was proud to be described that way. He said all Americans should feel the same way about holding onto their dreams.

Dr. Ken Dobbins, Southeast Missouri State University's executive vice president, spoke prior to the keynote speech.

Dobbins said there is a generation gap when it comes to King and the civil rights movement. For many young people, the civil rights struggle is ancient history, he said. As a result, it is all the more important that the national holiday celebrating King's birthday is used to teach diversity, Dobbins said.

"Diversity is not something we do just because the government requires us to do it," he said.

Dobbins said Southeast is committed to racial and ethnic diversity. He said the university continues to strive to recruit and retain minority faculty, staff and students.

The ultimate goal is to build a more open and inclusive campus community, Dobbins said.

Monday's breakfast also featured a performance by "Musicians of the Sun," fifth- and sixth-grade students at Clippard Elementary School.