New Haven Independent

Alea Hampton is the daughter of Pastor Kennedy D. Hampton, who presided Monday over the 38th annual “Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., Love March.” Over 100 people paraded up Lawrence Street, onto Whitney Avenue, down Humphrey Street, then back up Lawrence to Shiloh Missionary Baptist.

Hampton’s father, the Rev. George Hampton, ran Shiloh before him. George Hampton also founded the Love March. Long before politicians made Martin Luther King Day a national holiday, Hampton convinced New Haveners to mark the day by taking to the streets, the way King himself did, to support a love-based, nonviolent form of civil rights and social change.

No matter what the weather — and some years it’s been cold and snowy — Shiloh hasn’t missed a march since their first one 38 years ago.

Click on the play arrow below to watch the procession on its first leg up Lawrence Street Monday.

If Martin Luther King hadn’t been assassinated in 1968, if he were alive today and leading black New Haveners in a march for progress, what would he preach?

Alea Hampton offered an answer en route that resurfaced in speeches from the pulpit at the post-march church service: An end to “the killing on the street.”

Several speakers alluded to the importance of family in that quest, of families sticking together and involving children in positive activities — such as the Love March and church service, which featured the Unity Boys Choir, winners of a kids’ essay contest, and lots of singing and calls for activism.

The Love March is certainly a family tradition. Alea Hampton said she has never missed one over her 15 years. Another granddaughter of George Hampton, Jennifer Wise, came down from Waterbury, as usual, to march. Alea’s uncle, City/ Town Clerk Ron Smith (pictured), said he hasn’t missed one, either. He said he’s been to all 38.

Dreams can change over time, Smith said, but the King message has remained the same over all those marches: “Don’t ever stop dreaming. When you stop dreaming, you die.”

Several speakers in the church emphasized King’s message that the church should serve as a spiritual springboard to social action, not an end in itself.

When the Gibson family completed its moving performance, State Rep. Bill Dyson, the emcee, told the crowd it was experiencing a taste of what it was like to sit in a Montgomery or Albany church during the civil rights era when Martin Luther King was about to lead a march.

“They would get together in the church. They would hear the message. They would get fired up. And they would march!” Dyson thundered.

“We need to get together like Martin Luther King did. Once you begin to feel the spirit, you go out and do something about it.”

State Sen. Toni Harp referred to King’s calls for people to unite across religious lines, Christians of different denominations, “Jews and Gentiles.” In 2007, she said, “We need to increase our brotherhood and put our arms around Muslims for peace.”

The keynote speaker, Yale Divinity School Assistant Professor Andre Willis, left the crowd with a question based on the example of King’s life: “Are you willing to make the sacrifice to stand for something larger than you?”