Portland minister encourages students to continue MLK’s legacy

Reverend Dr. W.G. Hardy, Jr., was the keynote speaker for the Martin Luther King Jr. tribute week held Jan. 16–20. His speech on Thursday, Jan. 19, addressed the work of MLK in the civil rights movement and how his legacy can continue to move civil rights forward.

A Portland native, Hardy grew up in the Northeast portion of the city and eventually moved to the Southeast area. He has a long-standing and unique history with Portland’s African American and religious communities which began with his father. Hardy said his father was somewhat of a pioneer for African Americans in the Portland area. “My father was a trailblazer. He was a barber in the day and a pastor in the evening and on weekends,” Hardy said.

When Hardy was a child, his father set up a mission church in Northeast Portland that provided social services for the local underserved population.

“He would pitch a tent for 30 days on what was then called Union Avenue. It’s now known as Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd. He would set the tent out and it would attract alcoholics, drug users, street walkers and passersby, and he would minister to them…we as kids would assist, and then from there we would transition them to the mission church and help get their lives back on track,” Hardy said.

Although Hardy has always had strong ties to his own spirituality as well as Portland’s religious population, he didn’t immediately find his way to the pulpit.

“I’ve always had a spiritual background. I’m a third-generation pastor, but I never wanted to be one,” Hardy said. “It was actually a calling that I responded to, rather than a vocation I chose.”

Prior to entering the ministry, Hardy served six years in the United States Navy. He has taken classes at both Mt. Hood Community College and Marylhurst University located in Lake Oswego.

Hardy became the senior pastor at Highland Christian Center, located in Northeast Portland, in 1996. In 2004, he received an honorary doctoral degree from Mt. Carmel Theological Seminary in Fresno, Calif.

In 2000, Hardy established Highland Haven, a non-profit corporation that serves distressed communities in North and Northeast Portland, providing them with various social services. In addition to this non-profit, Hardy also advocates for a multitude of other causes such as Aid to Africa, African American HIV/AIDS issues and gentrified African American Portland citizens.

He is also a chairperson on the board of the African American Mental Health Coalition, the African American Chamber of Commerce and the Albina Ministerial Alliance. Among his several accolades, Hardy received the NAACP Man of the Year award in 2004, and the Lifetime Achievement Award from the World Arts Foundation.

In his keynote address, Hardy spoke about Martin Luther King Jr.’s legacy from the perspective of an African American person native to the Pacific Northwest. Prior to the speech he said it was important that he “talk about why Martin Luther King’s dream was important, what difference it has made and what has yet to be achieved.”

Junior biochemistry major Britton Allen also commented on the gravity of Martin Luther King Jr.’s social impact. “There are people who make a big difference in the world and change it forever for the better; [Martin Luther King Jr.] is one of those people,” Allen said.

When asked why she thought it was important for students to recognize MLK Day, Allen responded: “As citizens who enjoy a world that was changed because of him, he deserves our respect and acknowledgement. We can do that through observing MLK Jr. Day in honor of his legacy.”

Hardy hoped his speech would help prepare students for the challenges they will face as they move through their lives as well as inspire them to work together to facilitate true change.

“I’d like for students to take away that it takes a collective group in order to make change happen,” Hardy said. “Students should be preparing themselves for the diversity that they will have to address as they become more educated in a more diversified community.”