The Baptist Minister’s Conference of Pittsburgh and Vicinity held a rousing Martin Luther King Jr. Day event at Central Baptist Church to, among other things, drive home a glaring oversight—Pittsburgh is one of the few major cities with no street named after the slain civil rights icon.
In an exclusive interview Rev. Victor Grigsby spoke bluntly, “It certainly speaks to the mentality of the city.”
There are over 900 cities with a street named after King.
The Steel City saw a bus rapid transit line—a nine mile stretch from Downtown to various places renamed the Martin Luther King Jr. Busway in February of 1983.
Reverend Grigsby, pastor of Central Baptist made it clear that the Baptist Minister’s Conference plans to have the issue as a major item on their agenda in 2014.
“I think the least that we could do in the city of Pittsburgh is to make an appeal to those powers that be to offer at least a street in his name. And that’s also going to be our push—will be our call to action,” Rev. Grigsby said.
Reverend Johnathan Wilson, pastor of New Bethel Baptist Church and president of the Baptist Minister’s Conference, plans to contact Mayor Bill Peduto to get support for a renaming of a street for King.
“We will be knocking on his door and ringing his phone to let him know that this is what we would like to see. We would like the city of Pittsburgh to honor Dr. King.”
Bishop Walter S. Thomas, Sr. Pastor of New Psalmist Baptist Church in Baltimore was the keynote speaker at the MLK Jr. Day services.
The Baptist Minister’s Conference is comprised of pastors from the city of Pittsburgh and the region.
(Reach Tené Croom at tene.croom.tc@gmail.com and follow her on Twitter at @TcTene.)
