So many people think they know just about everything there is to know about Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. But guess what? There are still some important facts to learn.
I know its summertime and the children are out of school, but if you have a child around right now, old enough to be able to read this column, make them come into the room where you are right now, sit them down, and have them read this story, out loud.
Most people know, particularly people from Camden, New Jersey, that there was a period of time when Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. lived at 753 Walnut Street in Camden, with one of his best friends, Walter McCall. For years, there have been talks about doing something special with the property, but nothing has happened until now. Recently, Pastor Amir Khan, Founder of New Beginnings, became the new owner of 753 Walnut Street.
According to Amir Khan, Camden resident and the nephew of the Founder and first owner of the SCOOP USA Newspaper, R. Sonny Driver, it took the late Congressman John Lewis coming to town in September of 2016 and holding a press conference out in front of the house, that really got interest levels up, for what would happen with the property. “They talked about this house must be saved. This is a part of history. I think that’s probably what bought the most attention to the story. John Lewis said that was good trouble right here, what Dr. King did while he lived here.”
Amir Khan explained why some now identify Camden, New Jersey as the birthplace of the Civil Rights Movement.
“In 1950, while Dr. King was studying at the Crozer Theological Seminary, he and his best friend Walt (who was also in the seminary) decided to take two young ladies out to dinner. The date of this dinner outing was June 11, 1950. Obviously, this was before Martin had earned his Ph.D. and before he was married. This was on a Sunday after church, and they were all still wearing their church clothes. The owner of the house where King and McCall were living was actually a relative of Walter McCall. When he learned where they planned to go out to eat, he warned them against it, saying, “They don’t allow colored folk to eat there.” It is said that young King’s response was something like, “That’s all the more reason we should go there, to Mary’s Café.”
“They went to Mary’s Café in Maple Shade, New Jersey, and sat down to give their meal orders. They were told by the waitress, ‘No. We don’t serve colored people here.’ Martin told the owner of the establishment it was against the law not to serve them and that they had to be served. The owner then went in the back and came out with a gun that he shot in the air in an effort to make King and his friends leave. At that point, they did leave, but King wasn’t finished with Mary’s Café yet. He made a call to the President of the NAACP in Camden, Dr. Wiggins, and they decided to fight in court. People never thought a Black person would win over a white person in court back in 1950, but guess what? Martin King and Dr. Wiggins won their case against the owner of Mary’s Café. The owner of the establishment was arrested and held in jail overnight. This incident is the very thing that sparked the life of the civil rights movement in Dr. King. It was at that point that many people around said they noticed a change in Dr. King. That’s when things started to shift for young King. That’s when a light-bulb went off. That’s when it hit him hard that his purpose aside from preaching God’s word was to fight against social injustice and to fight for civil rights and human rights.”
When Congressman John Lewis came to the house for a press conference, two hundred thousand dollars was given to the City of Camden and the County to help with the renovation of the house, restoration, and museum. Unfortunately, the powers that be in Camden, at the time, decided the Camden Fire Department needed the money more, and so funds earmarked for the Dr. King House were diverted to the Fire Department.
“The woman who owned the house up until I bought it last Friday, Minister Lilly Hunt, actually inherited it when her husband passed. Minister Hunt is now 90, and she shared with me that for years her family had dreamed of having the house restored, and that’s why they held onto it for so long. At this point, Minister Hunt is entrusting me to carry out this lifelong vision. When you look at the story of what happened at Mary’s Café in 1950 with King and his friends and look at where Dr. King was living at that time in his life, people have to recognize that Camden is where the birthplace of the civil rights movement was really born.
New Jersey Historian Patrick Duff stated, “The house has gone through so much to get to this point, and it’s really on its last leg. This is a last-ditch effort and if government officials and the bureaucrats in New Jersey can’t see fit to save this home, then I believe it’s going to be one of the sores that going to be on the state of New Jersey for decades to come. Just like the Maple Shade incident at Mary’s Café. They understand history enough to get a plaque and have it placed at the site of where Mary’s Café once stood. The plaque acknowledges that location as the first spot where Martin King held a sit-in for civil rights. If the city of Maple Shade could recognize what Dr. King did, then the City of Camden needs to respect the fact that Dr. King did, in fact, live at 753 Walnut Street in Camden, and they need to give up the funds to help restore the house.”
A whole new layer of civic and historic responsibility is now on the shoulders of Amir Khan, the nephew of SCOOP Founder, R. Sonny Driver. You know how they say, “the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree?” So is the case with Amir Khan. He couldn’t help but become a community activist and a man about the business of making positive change in the city of Camden, New Jersey.
For years, Khan has been operating his own nonprofit, “New Beginnings”, in Camden. They work with people down on their luck, people coming out of incarceration, some people who just need a hand-up. Not long ago, he purchased an RV. He gutted it out and installed showers, a washer and dryer, and an area where a homeless person could change clothes in private.
Little did he know, say 10-months ago, that he would become the owner of the house where Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., once lived, while commuting and studying to be a minister at Crozer Theological Seminary in Chester. The official deed of sale was signed and put in his hands just a week ago. But already, Amir Khan’s mission is clear. He is determined to get the house restored and to one day, sooner rather than later, have it opened as a museum and a place where children and adults can come and learn about Dr. King and see how he lived and where the civil rights movement was truly born.
Currently, the house is in very bad condition. It’s got a hole in the roof so large that when it rains, the water just pours into the structure. The house really needs attention right away. According to Patrick Duff, three hundred thousand, maybe a little bit more is needed to put the historic property into working condition and make it presentable. The fundraising has started. To learn how you can help, call New Beginnings at 856- 313-0155. The website for New Beginnings is www.newbeginningscmd.com. Their slogan is “Love Never Gives Up.” Their main focus is restoring honor and dignity to the city of Camden’s homeless, something Dr. King definitely would have approved. Contributions of all sizes are welcome to help save the house that Dr. King lived in, in Camden while studying at Crozer in Chester.
While Sonny Driver lived, one of his greatest accomplishments in his public life, after founding the SCOOP USA Newspaper, was getting West River Drive renamed Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Drive. Now, look at his nephew Amir Khan, all these years later, having purchased the house Dr. King lived in back in 1950 in Camden, New Jersey, and now fighting to restore it and turn it into a museum and place of pride and education. As I mentioned earlier, you know how they say, “the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree?”
