A place of honor for common folk

WASHINGTON - The timing wasn't lost on anyone. Sure, millions of us have come here to be part of the celebration as history unfolds today - to witness Barack Obama's taking the oath of office as the first African American president of the United States. But on what was unofficially declared "Obama Eve," nobody forgot the man whose courage and sacrifice made it possible for this day to come.

On the holiday honoring the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s 80th birthday, thousands of citizens from across the nation pulled together yesterday to celebrate the fearless man who had a dream, and the inspirational man who is the embodiment of King's dream and ultimate sacrifice.

From the thousands who showed up at Robert F. Kennedy Stadium to put together care packages for the troops, to the half-dozen residents who braved a bitingly cold morning to clean up a park in their Capitol Hill neighborhood, visitors and locals heeded Obama's call to volunteer.

And what better way to honor Dr. King, who always insisted that "everybody can be great, because everybody can serve"?

I can't help but wonder what the civil rights leader would have thought of the scene at the JW Marriott Hotel yesterday - a living, breathing example of community service at its best.

This beautiful hotel was magnificently draped and bunted with the stars and stripes, and embellished with an enormous and sparkling inaugural seal hanging from the rafters. The centerpiece was a vast terrace, 12 floors up, off the presidential suite, with a spectacular view of the inaugural parade route.

And at least for this inauguration, this prime piece of real estate was not the place for political dignitaries or celebrities to hang out.

Instead, the 300 luxury rooms and suites and top-notch service were reserved for victims of Hurricane Katrina. And disabled war veterans. The elderly, and battered moms. Disadvantaged youngsters, drug-addicted folks, and anyone else who wouldn't ordinarily be able to come to any inaugural event, let alone stay in a five-star hotel.

It was home to the People's Inaugural Project. And the credit for it goes to retired Mount Holly businessman Earl Stafford, an undeniable King disciple for service, who would tell you that his greatest accomplishment is not the millions of dollars that he made from his technology firm, but how he has been able to use his wealth to help others.

His exclusive guest list included deserving people from all over the nation, and was pared down with the help of public-service agencies.

It was March when Stafford was first moved to do something for the underserved, but his idea turned into a full-blown extravaganza when he saw a story in a newspaper in October that the JW Marriott was offering an inaugural package of 300 rooms, two presidential suites, two vice presidential suites, and the 12th-floor terrace for a cool $1.6 million.

"I knew right there that that's what the Lord wanted me to do," he said.

Shareema Bryan, 31, said she felt honored just to be considered. The West Philadelphian was proud of the way she had turned her life around - kicking crack, earning her GED, and landing a job as a customer-service representative at Comcast. But she hadn't been expecting a call from the Urban League, whose Connect to Work program she had taken advantage of, telling her that her family had been selected for a whirlwind of inaugural events spanning four days and three nights.

But yesterday, there she was, along with fiance Barry Lutz and their four children, ages 2 to 16, nibbling on chocolate cake as she listened to Martin Luther King III speak at the People's Inaugural luncheon.

Both she and Lutz said they felt as if they were living a dream.

"If anyone would have told me three years ago that our life would have turned around like this, I never would have thought it would have been possible," Lutz said. "Our life was prison, probation, courts and custody hearings."

Bryan nodded. "It's like Mr. Stafford really knows who the real people are, the people who struggle," she says. "My children may not fully understand it now, but when they're older, they'll never forget the memories of this."

Stafford, for his part, is nothing if not humble. Listening to the 60-year-old son of a Baptist preacher, who now lives in Fairfax, Va., downplay his role in putting together the once-in-a-lifetime People's gala - which included a Sunday evening tour of Washington, a prayer breakfast, and a Martin Luther King Day lunch yesterday, along with a children's ball and an adults' ball tonight - you wouldn't know that he had bankrolled the gala out of his own pocket.

All Stafford was focused on was publicly thanking his volunteers - from the people who donated gowns and tuxedos by the thousands to the waitstaff at the Marriott - and giving them the credit they deserve.

And he wants to make sure the people he helped bring to Washington pass their blessings on to someone else.

"We have a responsibility," Stafford said, "to inspire others to do good also. Are we our brother's keeper? Well, yeah, we are."

As Obama is poised to become our 44th president, as people help make better their communities - and each other - in the spirit of unity, I'm guessing that this is what Dr. King meant by "a symphony of brotherhood."

All of us working in concert, inspired to serve - and not just for one day in January.

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