People tell Spivey Green that when they shut their eyes and listen to him recite Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech they could swear the famous civil rights leader is in the room with them.
“I like hearing that,” said Green, a retired sergeant major who lives in Phenix City. “When I do the speech, I try to use all the same voice inflections King did.”
Green, 56, learned the speech as a young boy when it grabbed his interest, and he’s been performing it in public around the country -- “from Las Vegas to Selma, Alabama,” he says -- for many years.
Today at 11 a.m. he will be doing it for the seventh time at the Columbus Regional MLK Day Commemoration Service in the conference center at The Medical Center. The public is invited.
“This time of year, I really stay busy doing the speech,” the Jordan High graduate said. “I travel to a lot of cities.”
He doesn’t use notes.
The featured speaker at the event is Columbus Mayor Teresa Tomlinson. There will be special music provided by the Emmanuel Voices of Praise.
Some other events today include:
The Martin Luther King Jr. Unity Award Breakfast at 7 a.m. in the Columbus Convention & Trade Center. The guest speaker is Marc Morial, CEO of the National Urban League. The cost is $30 for adults and $20 for students.
The Girls Incorporated beautification program will begin at 9 a.m. at the Garrard Center on Clover Lane followed by a “40 Days of Peace” program.
The City-Wide Youth and Adult Observance at St. James AME Church on Sixth Avenue in Columbus begins at 9 a.m. The program, “Learning How to Be What Our Youth Needs” targets middle school and high school students.
The MLK Memorial Service at Metropolitan Baptist Church on Fifth Avenue in Columbus begins at noon. The Rev. John Mason of Providence Baptist Church in Marietta, Ga. is the guest speaker.
The Harris County Men’s Club and the Harris County Civic League will hold their 19th annual Martin Luther King Jr. birthday celebration with a 1 p.m. parade beginning at the Carver Resource Center in Hamilton. Lineup is at noon. After the parade, Dr. Brel Clark of Columbus is guest speaker in a program at Friendship Baptist Church.
The City-Wide MLK Youth Summit begins at 2 p.m. at Fourth Street Baptist Church on Fifth Street in Columbus.
