Religion & Spirituality

Rev. Daughtry Global Ministries celebrates Kwame Ture with ‘A Time of Remembrance and a Time of Reunion’

On Saturday, July 29, 2023, after walking in steaming summer heat from the Barclay’s Center to his House of the Lord Church (Atlantic Avenue, Brooklyn), 93-year-old Rev. Dr. Herbert Daughtry kicked off his tribute to the late Kwame Ture (formerly Stokely Carmichael). Called “A Time of Remembrance and Time of Reunion,” the program highlighted the work and ideology of the Trinidad and Tobago-people–focused international activist.

From his time with the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) and the All African Revolutionary Party, to his “Back Power” slogan contribution and more, the man was celebrated for his unwavering commitment to the liberation of oppressed Black people the world over.

Stories were told by those who knew him for his life long fight for fairness, acknowledgment, and redressing the imbalance hampering the international progress of Africans in the diaspora. Among the segment of people who have tuned into the grassroots fight to deliver Black people from historic institutionalized racism.

Daughtry’s symbolic march was in remembrance of the June 6, 1966, protest march, where civil rights activist James Meredith was shot and wounded by a white salesman in Mississippi, on the second day of his 220-mile March Against Fear. Meredith planned the march to encourage Black voter registration in Mississippi. Because Meredith was injured and unable to continue, civil rights leaders, including Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Floyd McKissick (C.O.R. E.), and Ture (SNCC), continued the march to Jackson in his place, with Meredith rejoining near the end. It was during this march that Ture coined the phrase “Black Power.”

That was the foundation of the celebration at the historic House of the Lord Church. There, Daughtry, alongside his wife pastor Rev. Dr. Karen Smith Daughtry, delighted in Ture’s legacy as “a model and inspiration for Black Power, and for the revolutionary idea he popularized as ‘Black Power.’”

The celebration consisted of music and a video presentation of the life and times of Ture, presented by Bob Brown, co-director of the Pan-African Roots. There was a lively interactive panel discussion with speakers including Brown; Don Rojas, director of communications, Institute of the Black World, who sent a long statement regarding the impact of Ture’s work internationally, but particularly in the U.S.; Viola Plummer, co-founder, December 12 Movement (D12); Sekou Odinga, founding member, the Black Panther Party, and New York City Councilmember Charles Barron.

Invited special guests and rep- resentatives included Stop the Violence Bring the Peace Rally, Elite Learners Inc., Tailor-made for a King, Man Up! Inc., and the Ceasefire Initiative.

The speakers emphasized Ture’s militant activism and advocacy for Black racial pride and self-determination, as well as his relentless anti-imperialism. His stance was the hallmark he shared with his militant precursors Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Malcolm X, and Paul Robeson.

Daughtry, founder and presi- dent of Herbert Daughtry Global Ministries (HDGM), sponsored the event. Known as the People’s Pastor, he is the former national presiding minister of the House of the Lord Churches and founding president of the Black United Front.

“We are proud and honored to celebrate Kwame Ture for the many contributions he made to people of African ancestry,” Daughtry said. “As we celebrate what would have been his 82nd birthday, Kwame Ture continues to be an inspiration to us all.”