Legendary coach at MLK event: 'We can change the world with a team'

All the speakers at the “And Justice For All” Martin Luther King Jr. Day program Monday in Sikeston, Missouri, talked about continuing King’s mission of equality and trying to bring more people into a movement.

Blues musician Sam Mosley sang Sam Cooke’s “A Change is Gonna Come,” and the lyrics of that song were reflected in each of the speakers’ messages.

“I’m going to tell it like it is: It’s been a long road, but change is going to come,” Lennies McFerren said. “But until people do what people did in Charleston, we’ll have a small group — the same ones trying to make a difference.”

McFerren was the first black head basketball coach at a Southeast Missouri high school. He said he would not have gotten his first job at Charleston High School in 1977 without the support of the community in that city.

He went on to win seven state titles at Charleston and two more at New Madrid County Central.

Lennies McFerren smiles during the "And Justice For All" Martin Luther King Jr. Day program Monday at New Life New Beginning World Outreach Center in Sikeston, Missouri.Laura Simon

“We can change the world with a team,” McFerren said. “Not alone, but with a team. ‘And Justice For All’ is trying to do the best that we can, but we can’t do it alone until we get people behind us.”

McFerren said he would not have had the opportunity to coach without the work of King, and King wouldn’t have been successful if not for the support he had from a legion of activists.

Mosley was more direct in his request to try to reach young people.

“We’ve got all this wisdom, and we’ve got all this knowledge, but look around how many young people are here today,” Mosley said. “If we don’t start reaching these young people, we’ll take a big step backward.”

Mosley, who grew up in the 1960s, spoke of succeeding against long odds and having a can-do spirit. He was transported to school in old milk trucks, modified with windows and benches.

Jennett McCaster prays during the opening prayer of the "And Justice For All" Martin Luther King Jr. Day program Monday at New Life New Beginning World Outreach Center in Sikeston, Missouri. McCaster is the mother of David Robinson, who is in prison for murder even though another man confessed to the crime and two witnesses recanted their testimony.Laura Simon

He talked about the Negro Motorist Green Book, a nationwide list of safe lodging and eating places and gas stations for black travelers making their way across the country.

“You could always find your way,” Mosley said. “There was always that can-do spirit in our race.”

“And Justice For All” organizer Larry McClellon spoke of ministers and trying to get them more involved in the community.

He said there has not been much support from the ministers for his nephew, David Robinson, who has been in prison for 16 years for murder even though another man confessed to the crime, and the two witnesses against Robinson recanted their testimonies under oath.

One of McClellon’s goals with “And Justice For All” is to see Robinson released from prison.

“We’ve got a young man in prison today,” McClellon said. “If you won’t come out and support your own, a man in prison as an innocent person, you can’t come out until it’s knocking on your door.”

The exception to McClellon’s speech was New Life New Beginning World Outreach Center chief apostle Nathaniel Green.

Green preached at a march for Robinson in November, and he spoke Monday.

“We will continue to fight until he is released,” Green said of Robinson. “I believe God will release him. ... Wherever there is injustice, we’ll fight it.”

bkleine@semissourian.com

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Pertinent address: 508 E. Center St., Sikeston, MO