by Adelle M. Banks, Washington Post
Myrlie Evers-Williams, the widow of slain civil rights leader Medgar Evers, will be the first laywoman to give an invocation at a presidential inauguration when she prays at President Obama’s swearing-in on Monday.Evers-Williams, 79, an author, activist and former NAACP chairman, is a scholar at Alcorn State University in Mississippi.
She talked with Religion News Service about the confluence of the second-term inauguration of the nation’s first African American president, the 50th anniversary of her husband’s death in June 1963, and the swearing-in on Martin Luther King Jr. Day.
Courtesy of www.bgsu.edu
Q: What was your reaction when you were chosen to give the invocation at President Obama’s second inauguration?
A: First of all, it’s a major honor to do that. Secondly, it had been years ago at the March on Washington when I was scheduled to be a speaker there and unfortunately I could not get there. That was one thing that has haunted me over the years. Fifty years later, I receive an invitation to deliver the invocation.
Q: How do you feel about this occurring on the 50th anniversary of the murder of your husband, who was very active in civil rights work?
A: The focus has been on Dr. King, and there certainly is nothing wrong with that at all. But I have always wanted to see Medgar be recognized for what he did. Medgar’s remains are in Arlington Cemetery, only [a few] miles away from the spot where the inauguration will take place. It’s kind of a miracle for me that all of this is happening at this particular time.
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