Rev. Trinette McCray to speak at City-County King Observance
Faith and History
Faith and History
to do with how you see your call to engagement,” McCray said. “Faith and action have to go together. I think that is the link with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. He saw
that. He experienced that. He understood that. And by virtue of it, he had no choice but to be engaged in the way that he was because of his spirituality, his
understanding of faith and action and God’s desire for change. He spoke of the Beloved Community. I think we have come along in that same vein and spirit of
Martin Luther King Jr. to see that continued.”
While Barack Obama’s inauguration is just the latest example of African Americans and other people of color gaining prominent roles or responsibility and
authority in American society, McCray still sees the need for a civil rights movement. “To think that some of the more traditional civil rights approaches and
organizations have less purpose would be a mistake,” McCray emphasized. “It’s going to be a ‘both-and’ approach, at times working hand-in-hand. There are
going to be things that a NAACP and an Urban League and other traditional organizations will be needed to do because of the nature of their mission, their
history and their track record. Newer approaches that may be tried will also have a responsibility to carry forward. I think having Barack Obama being elected
President certainly speaks to what has been accomplished. I think we should be working toward the Beloved Community that Dr. Martin Luther King points to. It’s
going to be ‘both-and,’ working together, each playing their role and taking their place in the work.”
One of the roles for the civil rights movement, in McCray’s view, is to examine our public systems to analyze what must be done to make them more
conducive to meeting people’s needs and then advocating for the needed change.
“One of the things we need to look at is the systems which are struggling and are made up of primarily persons of color and at times, persons with different
economic and social levels and ask what that has to do with the particular system failing and/or the children of that system not learning up to standard,” McCray
said. “Why is the Milwaukee Public School system failing? Why are other school systems failing? Are there any issues related to disparity, not just in terms of
money, but also in the appropriation and management of those dollars? Many of the public systems are struggling. I don’t have any accusations, but I simply
raise that to ask if there is something there within the whole educational system and systems — not just the public ones — in the way education is being
delivered that might lend itself to some review or critique if a civil rights lens is applied. That’s just one. I think housing is another. We continue to have — apart
from the mortgage and lending issues that are taking place — the displacement of people from the center of communities and the replacement of those persons
through the building of condominiums and higher priced housing at the center and core of some cities. What’s behind that? I think we have to start to ask those
kinds of questions where poor people are displaced to the extremities of the city and people with means and housing stock being changed over and replaced at
the center of the city. So what is happening in our cities is another point for us to at least raise some questions.”
McCray was blessed to study under and be ordained by Abernathy, a close aide of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. until King was assassinated in 1968. Abernathy
had a lot to teach and McCray a lot to learn. “When we went on bus trips and he was preaching at another church, we would get a bus and the choir would go
along,” McCray recalled. “I would sit on the bus and just chat with him. Sometimes when we would sit up, we’d be down in the lobby and he would talk and share
more thoughts about the movement and his life. I recall one evening sitting there on the floor with a couple of other young people and he was just talking. He
was that kind of person. He didn’t need a whole lot of props. He would just move among us and was just that accessible. There was no problem with calling him
on a Saturday morning or calling him right at home and he would answer the telephone.”
“He spoke often about Martin and him as he would call him and the struggle and the movement and the times when their homes and families were at risk and the
times they went to jail,” McCray continued. “He mentioned those things not to bolster himself up. It was to continue to say to us that it is worth it all because we
have to stand against the evils of society. That’s what his message was. He was the kind of man that you would call him on a Saturday morning and he was fixing
pancakes and eggs and sausage for his family. He was doing the cooking. I’m in communication today with Juanita Abernathy, his widow. That’s been a rich
blessing for me.”
Although Abernathy was a national leader, he always kept it real for himself and those around him. “Rev. Abernathy was a very warm, humble and helping
individual,” McCray emphasized. “I say that in three ways. One, he accepted whomever came into his church or the community. If students came to his church
on Sunday, he wouldn’t let those students leave without being sure that they had two things: a few more dollars in their pocket and someplace to eat Sunday
dinner. He took up an offering that would go to those students. Everyone would be asked to put a dollar into the offering. And the students would gather at the
end of the service and he would divide it among those students. He would also have an offering once per month that would go to one of the colleges just to
support the students. And he would have the students stand and he would call out families and he would say ‘You’re going to take them to dinner. If you can’t
take them to dinner, then you give them money so they can eat. We’re going to make sure these students have Sunday dinner.’ The other thing is he stayed
engaged and involved and kept his church involved in what was going on and needed to be done in the Atlanta community. He wanted to be sure they
remembered the Poor People’s Campaign.’ I remember Sundays once per month when we would be asked to suspend wearing our normal Sunday wear and
come to church in clothing that was worn during the ‘Poor People’s Campaign.’ It was a blue jean jacket and blue jeans. He did not want the community and the
church to lose connection with the struggle. There was still the struggle going on and we were part of it. The other was he would do anything and go to any
length for the sake of helping another person, even when he was met with obstacles. He fought forward. He was the kind of person whom you could call on the
phone. He was approachable. He saw himself as a pastor. After I graduated, I went back down on a Wednesday. He invited me to preach on Sunday. He didn’t
mind stepping aside. He would do anything he could to help another person, to lift somebody else up.”
McCray summed up King’s and Abernathy’s generation when she said “They didn’t see themselves as anything more than servants. And they didn’t put
restrictions around them that you couldn’t get to them. They were ordinary people whom we now say did extraordinary ministry.”
that. He experienced that. He understood that. And by virtue of it, he had no choice but to be engaged in the way that he was because of his spirituality, his
understanding of faith and action and God’s desire for change. He spoke of the Beloved Community. I think we have come along in that same vein and spirit of
Martin Luther King Jr. to see that continued.”
While Barack Obama’s inauguration is just the latest example of African Americans and other people of color gaining prominent roles or responsibility and
authority in American society, McCray still sees the need for a civil rights movement. “To think that some of the more traditional civil rights approaches and
organizations have less purpose would be a mistake,” McCray emphasized. “It’s going to be a ‘both-and’ approach, at times working hand-in-hand. There are
going to be things that a NAACP and an Urban League and other traditional organizations will be needed to do because of the nature of their mission, their
history and their track record. Newer approaches that may be tried will also have a responsibility to carry forward. I think having Barack Obama being elected
President certainly speaks to what has been accomplished. I think we should be working toward the Beloved Community that Dr. Martin Luther King points to. It’s
going to be ‘both-and,’ working together, each playing their role and taking their place in the work.”
One of the roles for the civil rights movement, in McCray’s view, is to examine our public systems to analyze what must be done to make them more
conducive to meeting people’s needs and then advocating for the needed change.
“One of the things we need to look at is the systems which are struggling and are made up of primarily persons of color and at times, persons with different
economic and social levels and ask what that has to do with the particular system failing and/or the children of that system not learning up to standard,” McCray
said. “Why is the Milwaukee Public School system failing? Why are other school systems failing? Are there any issues related to disparity, not just in terms of
money, but also in the appropriation and management of those dollars? Many of the public systems are struggling. I don’t have any accusations, but I simply
raise that to ask if there is something there within the whole educational system and systems — not just the public ones — in the way education is being
delivered that might lend itself to some review or critique if a civil rights lens is applied. That’s just one. I think housing is another. We continue to have — apart
from the mortgage and lending issues that are taking place — the displacement of people from the center of communities and the replacement of those persons
through the building of condominiums and higher priced housing at the center and core of some cities. What’s behind that? I think we have to start to ask those
kinds of questions where poor people are displaced to the extremities of the city and people with means and housing stock being changed over and replaced at
the center of the city. So what is happening in our cities is another point for us to at least raise some questions.”
McCray was blessed to study under and be ordained by Abernathy, a close aide of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. until King was assassinated in 1968. Abernathy
had a lot to teach and McCray a lot to learn. “When we went on bus trips and he was preaching at another church, we would get a bus and the choir would go
along,” McCray recalled. “I would sit on the bus and just chat with him. Sometimes when we would sit up, we’d be down in the lobby and he would talk and share
more thoughts about the movement and his life. I recall one evening sitting there on the floor with a couple of other young people and he was just talking. He
was that kind of person. He didn’t need a whole lot of props. He would just move among us and was just that accessible. There was no problem with calling him
on a Saturday morning or calling him right at home and he would answer the telephone.”
“He spoke often about Martin and him as he would call him and the struggle and the movement and the times when their homes and families were at risk and the
times they went to jail,” McCray continued. “He mentioned those things not to bolster himself up. It was to continue to say to us that it is worth it all because we
have to stand against the evils of society. That’s what his message was. He was the kind of man that you would call him on a Saturday morning and he was fixing
pancakes and eggs and sausage for his family. He was doing the cooking. I’m in communication today with Juanita Abernathy, his widow. That’s been a rich
blessing for me.”
Although Abernathy was a national leader, he always kept it real for himself and those around him. “Rev. Abernathy was a very warm, humble and helping
individual,” McCray emphasized. “I say that in three ways. One, he accepted whomever came into his church or the community. If students came to his church
on Sunday, he wouldn’t let those students leave without being sure that they had two things: a few more dollars in their pocket and someplace to eat Sunday
dinner. He took up an offering that would go to those students. Everyone would be asked to put a dollar into the offering. And the students would gather at the
end of the service and he would divide it among those students. He would also have an offering once per month that would go to one of the colleges just to
support the students. And he would have the students stand and he would call out families and he would say ‘You’re going to take them to dinner. If you can’t
take them to dinner, then you give them money so they can eat. We’re going to make sure these students have Sunday dinner.’ The other thing is he stayed
engaged and involved and kept his church involved in what was going on and needed to be done in the Atlanta community. He wanted to be sure they
remembered the Poor People’s Campaign.’ I remember Sundays once per month when we would be asked to suspend wearing our normal Sunday wear and
come to church in clothing that was worn during the ‘Poor People’s Campaign.’ It was a blue jean jacket and blue jeans. He did not want the community and the
church to lose connection with the struggle. There was still the struggle going on and we were part of it. The other was he would do anything and go to any
length for the sake of helping another person, even when he was met with obstacles. He fought forward. He was the kind of person whom you could call on the
phone. He was approachable. He saw himself as a pastor. After I graduated, I went back down on a Wednesday. He invited me to preach on Sunday. He didn’t
mind stepping aside. He would do anything he could to help another person, to lift somebody else up.”
McCray summed up King’s and Abernathy’s generation when she said “They didn’t see themselves as anything more than servants. And they didn’t put
restrictions around them that you couldn’t get to them. They were ordinary people whom we now say did extraordinary ministry.”
By Jonathan Gramling
Part 2 of 2
Rev. Dr. Trinette McCray, the keynote speaker for the 24th Annual City-County King Holiday Observance, knows a little
something about trailblazing and civil rights. McCray, an instructor in urban ministry at Cardinal Stritch University, president
of the American Baptist Historical Society and president of Housing Ministries of American Baptists in Wisconsin, grew up in
segregated Milwaukee.
“I was young, but I understood both the role of the church and the Christian witness in matters that impact people’s
lives,” McCray said during a telephone interview with The Capital City Hues. “I was engaged in high school when Black
students didn’t have Black teachers at certain levels, didn’t have Black curriculum, didn’t have books that represented our
history or told our story. I was a part of student protests in high school that sought to change that and did in the Milwaukee
Public School system. I then went to a state school for college and was engaged in activities that would strengthen the
multicultural presence in the Wisconsin State University system. Mine was the UW-Oshkosh. We made sure we had a
multicultural center and an African American dean.”
McCray eventually went on to become an ordained American Baptist minister, ordained by the late civil rights leader
Rev. Dr. Ralph Abernathy. For McCray, spirituality and the action for civil rights go hand in hand. “One’s spirituality has a lot
Part 2 of 2
Rev. Dr. Trinette McCray, the keynote speaker for the 24th Annual City-County King Holiday Observance, knows a little
something about trailblazing and civil rights. McCray, an instructor in urban ministry at Cardinal Stritch University, president
of the American Baptist Historical Society and president of Housing Ministries of American Baptists in Wisconsin, grew up in
segregated Milwaukee.
“I was young, but I understood both the role of the church and the Christian witness in matters that impact people’s
lives,” McCray said during a telephone interview with The Capital City Hues. “I was engaged in high school when Black
students didn’t have Black teachers at certain levels, didn’t have Black curriculum, didn’t have books that represented our
history or told our story. I was a part of student protests in high school that sought to change that and did in the Milwaukee
Public School system. I then went to a state school for college and was engaged in activities that would strengthen the
multicultural presence in the Wisconsin State University system. Mine was the UW-Oshkosh. We made sure we had a
multicultural center and an African American dean.”
McCray eventually went on to become an ordained American Baptist minister, ordained by the late civil rights leader
Rev. Dr. Ralph Abernathy. For McCray, spirituality and the action for civil rights go hand in hand. “One’s spirituality has a lot
Rev. Dr. Trinette McCray