Mansch on Montana: MLK Jr. inspires Marcus Collins
Marcus Collins of Great Falls has been to Dealey Plaza in Dallas, where President John Kennedy was assassinated in 1963.
And he’s been to the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, where in 1968 Martin Luther King, Jr., was murdered.
Somber spots, both of them, for all Americans.
“Pain,” said Marcus, “doesn’t know if you’re white, native or black.”
The Great Falls pastor said those visits made a profound impact on his life and contribute to his ministry today. On this national holiday, when the legacy of Dr. King is recalled and celebrated throughout the land, Marcus said his mission remains clear – thanks in part to to his moment of reflection in Memphis.
“For me to be able to be at those places has really changed how I look at humanity,” he said. “And when I’m back in Great Falls my thought is, what can I do to help?
He mentioned youngsters and people struggling with low income and broken homes.
“How can we get kids fed? How we can we help single mothers?” Marcus said. “That’s really what I’m about. If we can can do that, we’re all carrying on Dr. Martin Luther King’s dream.”
MARCUS IS THE pastor at Alexander Temple Church of God in Christ in Great Falls. As a newly married airman stationed at Malmstrom Air Force Base in 1992, he visited the church for the first time at the behest of his wife, Antoinette.
“My life changed at this church, never dreaming I’d be the pastor one day,” Marcus said while sitting in a pew at the cozy Pentecostal parish on the east end of Great Falls. “Our family was Baptist, but I wasn’t a strong church-goer.”
He was born and raised in Chicago, attending Whitney Young High School, which was named for the civil rights advocate who hoped to be “an effective voice of the voiceless, an effective hope of the hopeless.”
Famed basketball players Isaiah Thomas, Mark Aguirre and Kevin Garnett were from the same westside Chicago neighborhood where Marcus grew up. And athletics played a large role in his life. Marcus was a varsity basketball player, no small accomplishment at a school with an enrollment of about 4,000.
But he was more interested in academics.
He took his studies seriously. Part of the Chicago public school curriculum, Marcus said, was a study of Dr. King.
“We were taught about his legacy; we did renditions of his speeches,” he said. “Jesse Jackson was operating in Chicago at the time and his ‘Operation Push’ was still a big thing.”
The Rev. Jackson was a follower of King and was there that fateful day in Memphis. Jackson has dedicated his life to continuing his mentor’s work. The goal of Jackson’s “Push” program was economic improvement and an expansion of educational, business and employment opportunities for people of color.
That resonated with a young Marcus Collins.
“As a young kid, I honestly thought I would be a civil-rights activist or politician,” Marcus said. “I’ve always had a passion to help people.”
THE WEST side of Chicago is a bit different from Great Falls. Though most of his family remains in Chicago, he’s home now in the middle of Montana.
“When I first got to Montana it was refreshing,” said Marcus, who had served two years in England before landing at Malmstrom. “The community grew on my wife and I. It’s been a good place to raise our children.”
Marcus, 46, and Antoinette have known each other since they were kids in Chicago. Their family includes sons Isaiah, who is in the U.S. Air Force, and Elijah, a senior on the baseball team at NCAA Division II Kentucky State.
Daughter Hannah, a senior at Great Falls High, is one of the state’s top basketball players who will attend Montana State Billings.
“They’ve all grown at their own pace and taken their own roles,” Marcus said. “That’s all we can ask for as parents, that they be responsible, choose their path and fulfill that path with all the passion they can.”
The Collins kids are all athletic.
“And that,” Marcus said with a smile, “comes from my wife.”
Their father’s gentle disposition doubtless provided his offspring an example that will endure.
MARCUS SAID it’s not difficult to give thanks on a day like today. And with Black History Month just two weeks hence it’s an attitude that won’t go away.
“Oh my God,” he said. “I’ve been so blessed to be able to meet good people here and to serve this community.”
He paused for a moment.
“I’m also grateful from where we’ve come as a nation,” Marcus said. “We still have a ways to go, but the racism and classism that we deal with in our society – I look at it as a journey or progress and not one of destination. Meaning we’re always changing and there’s always room to grow.”
MARCUS HAS tracked the family history of he and his wife back to Mississippi, when their relatives were sharecroppers.
“Basically indentured servants,” he said.
His ancestors likely were slaves. So how, he was asked, does one reconcile that?
“It’s not actually an act of reconciling it,” Marcus said. “I think honestly what we have to do is embrace that it is an actual part of our American history. And it still impacts us in one way or another today. We have to embrace that as Americans and human beings on a day-to-day basis as we meet individual people.
“How can I make a better impact on someone’s life? Whoever I meet that day, how can I make their life better?”
Marcus offered a soft smile and then said this:
“This is a value I live by,” he said. “Do as much good as you can, for as many people as you can, while you can. And then you’ll have a good day.”
MARCUS HAS visited the Mason Temple Church of God in Christ, the headquarters of his church denomination. It’s in Memphis and was the site of the final speech ever delivered by Martin Luther King, Jr.
“His life is part of the fabric of American history,” Marcus said. “There was a time when you and I could not be in a room like this talking. But look at us today. We’re able to connect.”
So on this day, especially, is Dr. King as relevant as ever?
“Yes sir,” Marcus said. “But even as we embark upon a new presidency, it’s about being open to differences. And not being afraid to experience new people. If we can get rid of that fear and our ideologies, and just embrace life and embrace each other, we may find we have more in common than we have differences.”
Marcus paused for a moment, looked up and offered his guest a wide smile.
“None of us can ever replace Dr. Martin Luther King, but you and I both carry a piece of his dream with us every day,” he said. “I think that is what both of us are doing here in Great Falls.”
He smiled again.
“And I like doing that,” Marcus said.
Mansch on Montana appears on Mondays and is dedicated to the personalities and places that make living in the Treasure State so special. Scott Mansch can be contacted at 791-1481 or smansch@greatfallstribune.com