EPICANTHUS

WASHINGTON, D.C.—With nearly all of the media focus on conservative Orange County pastor Rick Warren who delivered the invocation at this morning’s Presidential inauguration, it was an icon from the black civil rights movement who delivered the more compelling spiritual message of the day.

Rev. Joseph E. Lowery, an 87-year-old Methodist minister who along with Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. cofounded the Southern Christian Leadership Conference in 1957, was selected by congressional committee to deliver the inauguration’s closing benediction.

Rev. Lowery opened his benediction with phrases from Lift Up Every Voice and Sing, a poem by James Weldon Johnson which is also known as the “Negro National Anthem.”

But with the following passage, Rev. Lowery elicited shouts of agreement, laughter and a spirited call and response from the hundreds of thousands gathered at the National Mall for the inauguration, including President Barack Obama. In comparison, Rev. Warren’s remarks were seen as somewhat generic and tepid.

“Lord, in the memory of all the saints who from their labors rest, and in the joy of a new beginning, we ask you to help us work for that day when black will not be asked to get in back, when brown can stick around, when yellow will be mellow, when the red man can get ahead, man; and when white will embrace what is right. That all those who do justice and love mercy say Amen. Say Amen”

Rev. Warren’s selection to deliver the invocation was controversial because of his vocal opposition to gay marriage. Warren also invoked the name of Jesus in prayer, disappointing some who had hoped the invocation would be more inclusive of non-Christians. Others lauded Warren’s acknowledgment of Judaism and Islam.

But Lowery’s closing carried the day.

• Lift Up Every Voice and Sing, James Weldon Johnson.
• Civil Rights Leader Steals the Show, Political Animal, Washington Monthly
• Joseph Echols Lowery, Wikipedia
• Richard Duane “Rick” Warren, Wikipedia
• James Weldon Johnson Biography, Univ. of So. Carolina