Martin Luther King - Ralph Abernathy Inspire Cincinnati Bearcats Win

Ralph David Abernathy Marches with King

Martin Luther King had a dream.  His friend and close associate, Ralph David Abernathy shared the dream in Memphis, Tennessee in 1968.

Both men stood on the balcony of the Lorraine Motel near downtown Memphis.  James Earl Ray shot Dr. King.



Ralph Abernathy took over the fight for equality. The dream of these two men was that their "young children would be judged not by the color of their skin but the content of their character."

The civil rights movement pushed for racial equality, so that all United States citizens had the opportunity to do everyday things and participate in every facet of American life.

When Rosa Parks refused to move to the back of a Birmingham bus, it was Abernathy, who organized the transit strike that forced the city of Birmingham to reform its prejudicial and unjust policies.

Abernathy and King at Lorraine Motel, Memphis April 1968

On Saturday in the city in which the movement lost its charismatic leader, the grandson of the man, who replaced King, marched 90-yards with a kickoff for the University of Cincinnati in the Liberty Bowl against the Vanderbilt Commodores representing the Southeastern Conference.

The return gave the Bearcats a 24-21 lead in a game they won 31-27 but the game aside the "Dream" of participating on an level playing field was part of a new reality in which ability and effort are judged rather than ethnic background.

Ralph David Abernathy IV is a 5'6" 180 lb freshman for the University Cincinnati Bearcats, who has been the main kickoff return specialist of the team, was recruited by Cincinnati as a running back out of Westminster School in Atlanta.  He was promised nothing but a chance to prove himself.  That is all his grandfather ever asked of the nation.

http://www.gobearcats.com/allaccess/?media=268006  Click to Watch video interview



There is added significance that the touchdown came competing with a team from the Southeastern Conference.  The SEC was the last conference to integrate.  There were no African American athletes at any conference member until 1966, three years after Kings historical, "I Had a Dream Speech" that was delivered in Washington D.C at the Lincoln Memorial.  It is considered by historians as one of the greatest and powerful speeches in history.

William Rollins, one of 35 African Americans enrolled at the University of Tennessee, attempted to play basketball.  He was not selected for the team.  Georgia, Louisiana State and Mississippi did not feature a black American until 1972.