Speaker brings King's dream to life

SANDPOINT — Archival footage can’t sufficiently portray the power of Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech, but Sandpoint kids got a better idea Tuesday.

In morning assemblies at First Baptist Church and Sandpoint High School, middle school and high school students relived iconic expression of the civil rights movement through the voice of Percy “Happy” Watkins.

A minister of New Hope Baptist Church in Spokane, Wash., Watkins has been delivering the famous words from memory as his holiday draws near since 1985. Since then, his delivery of King’s eloquent language has become the signature of the annual celebration in Spokane, an event that he helped establish in 1984.

The black-and-white footage portraying King’s original speech, while inspirational, still mutes its original impact both through its technical limitations and the natural tendency for recorded material to dilute some of its live potency. Hearing the words delivered by an impassioned orator in a crowded setting, however, provides a sense of what the original 1963 delivery must have felt like, and it packs an emotional punch.

That’s no secret to Watkins, who remembers the effect of his first memorized recitation on the audience gathered in a hotel.

“By the time I ended, a lot of people were in tears,” he said.

In spite of the hundreds of times he’s given the speech, even Watkins’ eyes often well up by its final cry: “Thank God Almighty, we are free at last.”

In his build-up to the speech at the middle and high school assemblies, Watkins emphasized messages that he believed King would want modern kids to hear. He encouraged the kids to aspire for the highest heights possible.

“As Dr. King would say, ‘If you can’t be a pine on the top of the hill, be a shrub on the side. But be the best shrub on the side of the hill,” he said.

And a big part of reaching great heights, Watkins said, was respecting one’s home and parents. Watkins said that great men like King or late astronaut Michael Anderson acknowledged that they learned their most important lessons while living under their parent’s roof.

“If Michael were here right now, he would tell you, ‘Everything I learned was from my parents at home and at the kitchen table.”

Given the benefits that parents provide, Watkins hopes that Sandpoint kids will express their gratitude every now and then.

“Maybe even tell them you love them,” he added. “That’s all the payment a parent could want.”

In addition to his roles as a pastor and a King scholar, Watkins engages in social work and helping the disadvantaged meet their needs.

“That’s what I always harp on,” he said. “It’s so important that people have the basic necessities for them to succeed.”

Despite the difficulties, however, Watkins is inspired to continued efforts thanks to the legacy of King. In many ways, King’s dream mirrors his own.

“And, friends at Sandpoint Middle School, home of the Bull Pups,” he said, “I want to share with you that I still have a dream.”