BY ARLENE RUBINSTEIN
ATLANTA - A meeting to broaden opposition to the U.S. government's economic embargo of Cuba was a feature of King Week '96, a week of activities organized to commemorate the life of civil rights leader Martin Luther King.
"Dr. King did not run from unpopular causes," Rev. Emory Searcy Jr., told the crowd at Ebenezer Baptist Church. "Learn the truth about Cuba for yourself," he continued. "Don't be afraid to say the blockade of Cuba is wrong, and that it's got to go." Searcy, a leader of Clergy and Laity Concerned in Atlanta, initiated the January 9 program.
Sponsors included the Atlanta Network on Cuba, American Friends Service Committee, and several area ministers.
The keynote speaker was Rev. Lucius Walker, executive director of the Interreligious Foundation for Community Organization (IFCO). Walker discussed the efforts of Pastors for Peace to continue to bring humanitarian aid to Cuba.
José Luis Ponce-Caballo, first secretary of the Cuban Interests Section in Washington, D.C., was also invited as a guest speaker. He was unable to attend, however, due to the blizzard that made travel out of the U.S. capital impossible that weekend.
Organizers of the meeting plan to bring Ponce to Atlanta later this spring.