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Covenanter Part of CNN Sunday Interview
ATLANTA, GA (January 16, 2004) - Deric Gilliard of Commission Disciples Covenant
Church, a church plant in Tucker, Georgia, will be part of a CNN Sunday
Morning television interview between 7 and 8 a.m. (EST) Sunday.
The interview, called "In the Shadows," is part of CNN's weekly three-hour
show, hosted by Miles O'Brien and Heidi Collins. CNN Sunday Morning"
is a weekend news magazine program that takes an in-depth look at prominent
news events of the week. Gilliard, who resides in Stone Mountain, Georgia,
has published the second edition of Living in the Shadows of a Legend:
Unsung Heroes and 'Sheroes' Who Marched With Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
"God has opened a lot of doors," said Gilliard, who serves as an
intergovernmental affairs specialist for the U.S. Department of Health and
Human Services regional office in Atlanta. "Some of the things I've done I
would never have imagined. But I did feel I could access some media
opportunities and get access about a story that needs to be told. Some of
it has blown me away and some of it has been expected.
"I think that my appreciation for his (King's) work and his impact on
history is great," Gilliard continued. "But even more, his impact on
individuals and communities is much greater than before. The thing that so
amazes me about him is . . . that this long after his death, he is still
revered by the people that worked with him and knew him personally. And
I've gotten a lot more insight into that aspect of who he was. I've seen
more of the human side."
Overall, Gilliard said that his book has sold around 5,000 copies, so the
book isn't going to make him a rich man. But he says he's rich for the
experience, having seen God's hand in the relationships he has developed.
Although all of his subjects were significant to him, Gilliard says he has
gained a great appreciation for a young dentist he researched, Dr. Robert
Hayling, who challenged the African-American community of St. Augustine,
Florida, to accept nothing less than being full-fledged citizens of the
United States. Hayling, a former U.S. Air Force officer, became a
spokesperson for the NAACP and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference
during those years, fighting for equal treatment under the law. Among other
things, he was kidnapped by the Klu Klux Klan as he fought for equality
among those who had never known it.
"A lot of these people were common laborers, they were students, regular
everyday Joes," Gilliard said. "Dr. Hayling had been a dentist, a respected
professional, so he put much more on the line. Many thought it was just
better to go along, but he challenged society at its very core. He was
kidnapped by the Klan, had teeth and ribs broken and went right back to the
front lines."
Last February, Gilliard was invited by the U.S. Army 1st Armored Division
and the commanding general, Maj. Gen. Ricardo S. Sanchez, to speak in
Germany in honor of its Black History Month observance. He was also the
first Martin Luther King Jr. Holiday speaker at Troy State University's
Rosa Parks Museum and Library in Montgomery, Alabama, and spoke at
Philadelphia's Lincoln University, the oldest black university in the
nation.
Gilliard is an Atlanta-born journalist who has written for USA Today
and TIME magazine and served as director for SCLC, which was
co-founded by Dr. King in 1957.
A licensed minister with the Evangelical Covenant Church, Gilliard was part
of Team Africa, an eight-person contingent that traveled to Congo last
March to minister to those in the Covenant Church of Congo (CEUM). His
wife, Catherine, is also a licensed minister.
To learn more about Gilliard's book, visit his website at
www.gilliardcommunications.com.
Copyright © 2008 The Evangelical Covenant Church. |
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