Charles D. Martin (minister)

The Reverend Dr. Charles Douglas (C.D.) Martin[1][2] (November 7, 1873 - March 1942) was a West Indian Moravian minister. He was born in St. Kitts, British West Indies to parents Joseph and Adriana Martin. He founded the Fourth Moravian Church in Harlem, New York in 1903. It was located at 124 West 136th Street, Manhattan. He called the church "Beth-Tphillah" which is Hebrew for House of Prayer.[3][2] In 1912, he was ordained as the first and only Black minister of the Moravian Church in the United States.[4] He presided over the church from July 1908 until his death in March 1942.[2]

Charles Douglas Martin
Born(1873-11-07)7 November 1873
St. Kitts, British West Indies
Died1 March 1942(1942-03-01) (aged 68)
Harlem, Manhattan, New York City, New York
OccupationMinister in the Moravian Church

The church merged with the Third Moravian Church in January 1968 to become the United Moravian Church.[2]

Negro Silent Protest Parade

Rev. Dr. Martin was active in, and an activist for, the black community that his church served. In 1917, for the NAACP's historic Negro Silent Protest Parade, he worked with the Reverend Hutchens C. Bishop as Secretary and President, respectively.[5] The gathering of thousands of Negroes, marching in silent protest, on a hot July day,[6] made national news[7] and set the model for other protests to follow.[8][9][10]

Dr. Martin penned the call to action encouraging "people of African descent" to join for the parade.[5] During the parade, Black Boy Scouts passed out flyers to onlookers,[11] white and black alike.[6] In the wake of recent atrocities such as occurred in Waco, Memphis, East St. Louis and with the U.S. occupation in Haiti in mind, he wrote in part, describing "Why We March":[5]

"We march because we are thoroughly opposed to Jim-crow Cars, etc., Segregation, Discrimination, Disfranchisement, LYNCHING, and the host of evils that are forced on us. It is time that the Spirit of Christ should be manifested in the making and execution of laws.

...

We march because the growing consciousness and solidarity of race coupled with sorrow and discrimination have made us one: a union that may never be dissolved in spite of shallow-brained agitators, scheming pundits and political tricksters who secure a fleeting popularity and uncertain financial support by promoting the disunion of a people who ought to consider themselves as one."

References
  1. Martin, Charles Douglass (1919). "He is Worthy: Sermon Delivered by Rev. Charles D. Martin at Beth-Tphillah Moravian Church, 126 W. 136th St., New York, N. Y., Sunday Evening, March 9, 1919, on the Occasion of the Memorial Service for the Late Rt. Rev. Morris W. Leibert. Published by Special Request". Retrieved 2017-07-30.
  2. "United Moravian Official Website About Page". Retrieved 2017-07-30.
  3. "Home Page for Beth-Tefillah, a Jewish organization in Arizona, USA".
  4. "Treasure Room : Martin Collection". NCCU Libraries / James E. Shepard Memorial Library. North Carolina Central University. Retrieved 30 July 2017.
  5. "The NEGRO SILENT PROTEST PARADE organized by the NAACP Fifth Ave., New York City July 28, 1917" (PDF). National Humanities Center, Research Triangle Park, NC. National Humanities Center. 2014. Retrieved July 28, 2017.
  6. Walton, Lester A. (Aug 2, 1917). "Nearly Ten Thousand Take Part In Big Silent Protest Parade Down Fifth Avenue". New York Age. Retrieved July 28, 2017 – via Newspapers.com.
  7. "NEGROES IN PROTEST MARCH IN FIFTH AV.; 8,000 Men, Women, and Children Demand That Discrimination and Oppression End. TELL WOES ON BANNERS Parade in Silence While Thousands of Their Race Look On with Never a Cheer" (PDF). The New York Times. July 29, 1917. Retrieved July 28, 2017.
  8. Adams, Betty Livingston (2016). Black Women's Christian Activism: Seeking Social Justice in a Northern Suburb. New York: NYU Press. p. 86. ISBN 9781479880324 – via Project MUSE.
  9. "Thousands Stage Silent March on Capitol : Civil Rights Gathering Protests Recent Supreme Court Decisions". Los Angeles Times. 1989-08-27. Retrieved 2017-07-28.
  10. Lartey, Jamiles (2017-07-29). "Activists marking 100th anniversary of NAACP's silent parade see scary parallels". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2017-07-29.
  11. Colbert, Soyica Diggs (2017). Black Movements: Performance and Cultural Politics. New Brunswick: Rutgers University Press. pp. 145–146. ISBN 9780813588544 – via Project MUSE.
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