Tony Henry, 1989. PHOTO: American Friends Service Committee

As we approach the fortieth anniversary of the tragic death of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., it is important for us to reflect on King's message and on the aspirations it articulated. We must look at what has been accomplished, what strides have been made, and what opportunities were lost. Most importantly, we need to remember that the dream was not just Dr. King's, but belongs to the many, many people who gave their time, their energy -- even their lives -- to achieve this powerful vision.

As Julian Bond says in the video They Had a Dream Too, "You've probably heard of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and Rosa Parks. They're the most famous figures from the Civil Rights movement. But it was a people's movement that produced leaders of its own. It relied not on the noted, but on the nameless. Not on the famous, but on the faceless." There was Ella Baker -- labor organizer and mentor for the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee. There was Septima Poinsette Clark -- considered the Queen Mother of civil rights, she was an NAACP activist decades before the nation turned its attention to the issue of racial inequality. There was Reverend James Orange, a human rights activist and the force behind voter registration efforts that led to his arrest in Marion, AL and sparked "Bloody Sunday," the catalyst for the historic Voting Rights Act of 1965. Rev. Orange's contribution was huge, but few in the US are aware of it. His death this February continues the very real shrinkage of a generation of activists from this critical era of change.

Here at the American Friends Service Committee, there was Anthony "Tony" Henry, a man I had the good fortune to know and work with. When I received the sad news of Tony's passing a few months ago, I realized that not only had I lost a colleague and friend, but the country had also just lost one of those quiet workers for justice and peace. Don't get me wrong -- Tony could be an inspirational leader, but mostly he led by example. That's what made Tony such an important player in the civil rights and peace movements.

During a phone conversation with Tony, I learned that he was with Dr. King the day King was assassinated. As we continued to talk, it occurred to me that I needed to record this story, so I scheduled a time to sit with Tony and audiotape him.

Two weeks later I found myself setting up a tape recorder in a basement office at the Church of the Advocate in Philadelphia. It hit me that here I was, recording an eyewitness to history. When Tony began talking, I was instantly transported back in time, reliving this firsthand account of the Civil Rights era.

Tony talked about his time in Chicago, doing youth work with notables such as James Bevel, a very young Jesse Jackson, and Bernard Lafayette. They developed a listening project on the South Side of Chicago in which young people went out and engaged the community, discovering that the most pressing issue for the people there was the need for safe, decent, affordable housing. Tony was proud of the work they did. The community organized itself by forming a tenants' union that successfully negotiated with landlords for better conditions.

Tony recalled that Bernard Lafayette then went south and asked that Dr. King come to Chicago. As the civil rights movement matured, a Northern strategy was developed to complement the actions and protests in the South. It was shortly after King's visit to Chicago that a conscious decision was made to bring poor people into a grand movement for peace, social, and now economic justice, all within a human rights framework

Because of Bernard Lafayette's great organizing skills, the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) asked him to direct the Poor People's Campaign and organize a major action at the Mall in Washington, DC. Bernard asked Tony to be his Deputy Director.

As a demonstration of its organizational commitment to the Campaign, AFSC encouraged him to work for SCLC and continued to pay Tony's salary.

Many AFSC offices contributed to the Campaign organizing effort. The plan was to bring poor people from around the country -- from Native communities, from white families in Appalachia, from Latin communities in the Southwest, from Black communities in the South -- to converge on Washington, DC. There they would erect a "Resurrection City" on the Mall, a diverse, makeshift community that would reside there throughout the summer until the government took credible action to right the inequities suffered by the poor.

On April 3rd, Tony and Bernard flew to Memphis for a staff meeting with Dr. King to be held the next day. When they arrived, they joined Dr. King for a meeting with local youth, at which the youth promised to uphold the nonviolent spirit in the upcoming demonstration. That night, there was a rally which staff talked King into attending despite his exhaustion. This was the evening when Dr. King gave his famous "I've Been to the Mountaintop" speech. Tony reported that people were so moved by the speech that many stayed up through the night and didn't make it to the staff meeting scheduled for the morning of April 4th.

Tony, Bernard, Dr. King, and a few others did make it to the meeting. The subject of bodyguards was raised by some staff. Tony remembered the conversation clearly. Not only did King say that he couldn't have a bodyguard because it would go against his commitment to nonviolence, but he was absolute in the clarity of this total commitment. He said that even if he was the last person on Earth who believed in nonviolence, he would still maintain his commitment.

Tony and Bernard had scheduled an afternoon flight back to DC. They were to have been met at the airport by other staff and taken back to the office, but nobody showed up. Bernard phoned the office to find out what had happened. Tony described what happened next: Bernard was talking on the phone and then he just dropped it and leaned against the wall. Tony asked him what was wrong, but Bernard couldn't answer him, so he picked up the phone and talked with Bill Moyer (the activist, not the journalist). Bill said to Tony, "Haven't you heard? Dr. King was killed." I remember Tony's voice cracking as he retold the story of how he'd said to Bill that it couldn't be, because they'd just left King.

Tony and Bernard got a cab and attempted to get back to the DC office at 14th and U Streets. As they drove, Tony reported, you could see the city begin to go up in flames. They made their way on foot through smoke and mist for the last three blocks. Despite the fact that the first floor of the office was tear-gassed, they decided to spend the night there to secure it.

Tony gave me so much to reflect on: a generation of individuals who not only gave voice to the aspirations of the African-American community, but who helped to develop a moral and spiritual compass for our nation. For this, I am grateful. Now we must continue our work to bring their dream to reality.