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OHIO — In the mid 1960s, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. visited Cleveland and gave a speech that drew thousands of supporters to east 105th St. One Reverend stepped up and opened his church and now decades later, the 97-year-old reflects on that day.
Rev. E. Theophilus Caviness has been the pastor of Greater Abyssinia Baptist Church for the past 65 years.
Caviness said King came to town because he loved Cleveland.
“He said he loved Cleveland because there were so many ex-Alabamians in this town. And so, he had a proclivity, to wanting to be here and to interact with people in this city. And when the time came for the mayor’s run, he was very concerned and ultimately came here to help us,” Caviness explained about King.
On March 23, 1965, Caviness was among 6,000 people walking down east 105th St. to Cory Methodist Church to hear King’s speech to encourage voter registration and the right to vote.
Caviness proudly shared his interaction with King on that day.
“Doctor King whispered to me, he said doctor, would you please help us out here? We have nearly 3,000 people out there in the streets, only 3,000 people in here and we’d like to accommodate some of those people out there. And he said would you mind opening your church? And I said, I’d be delighted to, so I slipped out the back door, came to Great Abyssinian Church, and opened the doors and within 15 minutes our church was packed to capacity.”
There had been concern about helping King with his movement from Caviness. He said that prior to the night of Dr. King’s speech, the Greater Abyssinia Civil Rights Committee raised money and presented it to him.
“You’ll see a little note somewhere around here, where he thanked us profusely for the Great Abyssinian Civil Rights Committee for helping him,” as Caviness showed the note written by King.
Caviness said no one could have ever imagined the length and breadth King’s influence would have across the world.
He said that King was the kind of man that when you met him, you fell in love with him because of the propensity he had to draw people.
Caviness shared one thing King wanted people to know.
“He said, if you happen to be around when my day comes don’t talk about all the multitudes of awards I’ve gotten, don’t talk about the speeches I made and the important stuff. Just tell people that Martin Luther King tried to help somebody as he passed along, so that the living would not have been in vain.”
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Cierra Campbell
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