Fairfield library to host film, discussion on Martin Luther King

FAIRFIELD — The Fairfield Public Library will host a program about Martin Luther King Jr. at 2 p.m. on Sunday, Jan. 15, one day before the federal holiday honoring him.

The event will feature the showing of a documentary called “King: Go Beyond the Dream to Discover the Man.” The 94-minute film is narrated by Tom Brokaw and includes interviews with President Bill Clinton, Condoleezza Rice, Bono, Harry Belafonte and Dr. King's son.

After the film, Fairfield Library Director Alecs Mickunas and John Miller, Jefferson County Coordinator for the Retired & Senior Volunteer Program, will facilitate a discussion of the film and the issues it covers.

Miller said he feels passionate about the subject matter of the documentary and about promoting King’s message to a new audience. In fact, King and other Civil Rights leaders were the topic of classes that Miller led as a U.S. Air Force officer in the 1970s.

Miller was in charge of supervising and teaching a course on race relations, something the Defense Department implemented after officials noted it was a problem. Miller said they had even escalated to violent encounters on some of the bases.

After Miller was trained in the program at Kelly Air Force Base in San Antonio, Texas, he was transferred to a base in Thailand, where he served from January 1973 to May 1974. This was during the Vietnam War, and the U.S. was flying bombing missions over Vietnam from its bases in Thailand.

“We used a video documentary that showed some of the Civil Rights protests that Dr. King led,” Miller said. “We also used a lecture that Dick Gregory had given at the Air Force Academy, where I graduated from the late 1960s.”

Miller said leading a class on race relations was an “eye-opener” on some of the soldiers’ racial attitudes. For instance, one soldier approached him during a break to tell Miller he was a member of the Ku Klux Klan.

“There was some push back,” Miller said. “It became apparent who had deeply rooted issues with regard to race and prejudice.”

At the same time, Miller said it was gratifying to help his fellow soldiers appreciate the value of a multiracial and multicultural military.

Miller said that between 1,500 and 2,000 members of the Air Force attended the classes. In the nearly 50 years that have transpired since, Miller said he feels there has been “limited progress” on combating racism, but he’s not giving up, and is excited to introduce another generation to Dr. King and his ideas.

Call Andy Hallman at 641-575-0135 or email him at andy.hallman@southeastiowaunion.com