MLK Day prayer: Morristown pastor says schools suppressed talk of Ferguson

Pastor Sidney Williams Jr. of Bethel AME Church addresses the Morris Interfaith Breakfast. Photo by Kevin Coughlin
Pastor Sidney Williams Jr. of Bethel AME Church addresses the Morris Interfaith Breakfast. Photo by Kevin Coughlin
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Video: Morristown pastor prays for sensitivity in schools, and a compassionate justice system.

Morris County schools prevented students from discussing last summer’s deadly confrontations between police and black men in Ferguson, Mo., and Staten Island, a Morristown minister said at a Martin Luther King Day event.

“They were not allowed to discuss the events of Ferguson in class. They were not allowed to speak about what happened in Staten Island,” Pastor Sidney Williams of the Bethel A.M.E. Church told the 30th annual Morris Interfaith Breakfast.

Pastor Sidney Williams Jr, right, addresses the Morris Interfaith Breakfast, Martin Luther King Day 2015 in Morristown. To his left: Morris Township Mayor Dan Caffrey, Don Sheridan of UPS and Rep. Rodney Frelinghuysen (R-11th Dist.) Photo by Kevin Coughlin
Pastor Sidney Williams Jr, right, addresses the Morris Interfaith Breakfast, Martin Luther King Day 2015 in Morristown. To his left: Morris Township Mayor Dan Caffrey, Don Sheridan of UPS and Rep. Rodney Frelinghuysen (R-11th Dist.) Photo by Kevin Coughlin

Students “eyes filled with tears [and] their voices trembled” when they shared their experiences at the church earlier this month, said the pastor.

The youths were from the Morris, Randolph and Parsippany school districts, he said.

“They were told what to think and how to respond, and they trembled, and they cried, and they are afraid,” said Williams, who is African American.

The president of the Morris School District board of education, also an African American, expressed surprise at the allegation.

“That’s the first time we’ve heard that,” said Leonard Posey, who attended Monday’s breakfast.  “We encourage our kids to talk about events. Teachers can incorporate current events into lessons.”

At the same breakfast, Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ) told the diverse audience that Martin Luther King’s legacy demands that citizens speak out even when it’s uncomfortable.

The Rev. Sidney Williams Jr., far right, sings with the rev. Jerry Carter, Sen. Cory Booker and Rev. Cynthia Black in Morristown. Photo by Kevin Coughlin
The Rev. Sidney Williams Jr., far right, sings with the rev. Jerry Carter, Sen. Cory Booker and Rev. Cynthia Black in Morristown. Photo by Kevin Coughlin

Pastor Williams led a prayer asking God to give people “courage to listen,” and to “move beyond #BlackLivesMatter to believe that all lives really do matter.”

The minister said the nation rightly responded to the 2012 massacre of children in Newtown, CT.  But, in an apparent reference to Ferguson, he said armed guards and martial law have shut down responses to deaths of “children of a darker hue.”

Alluding to Staten Island teachers who wore NYPD T-shirts to school  after Eric Garner’s fatal arrest, Williams prayed for greater sensitivity by faculties.

He also prayed for grand juries to “let justice roll like living waters” when police actions go wrong, and for police chiefs and prosecutors to remember that “they are not there to inflict punishment, but they are to give justice, compassion and mercy.”

MORE COVERAGE OF MARTIN LUTHER KING DAY 2015

 

Pastor Sidney Williams Jr. of Bethel AME Church addresses the Morris Interfaith Breakfast. Photo by Kevin Coughlin
Pastor Sidney Williams Jr. of Bethel AME Church addresses the Morris Interfaith Breakfast. Photo by Kevin Coughlin

 

 

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