BLOOMINGTON - We are living in a midnight hour. That was the message of a Chicago-based clergyman and community activist at Saturday's 18th annual Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Fellowship Luncheon at Illinois Wesleyan University's Memorial Center.

The Rev. Michael Pfleger, a white priest who serves a black congregation at St. Sabina on Chicago's South Side, referred to King's "Knock at Midnight" speech to stress that almost 40 years after King's assassination, racism, classism and poverty are still pervasive.

Pfleger sat calmly in a pre-speech interview to discuss his respect for the Jesuit order of Catholic priests (they "invaded" him with a sense of justice at Loyola University, he said with a laugh); his support of longtime friend Barack Obama's presidential candidacy; and his comments from a 2007 anti-gun rally in which he told crowd members to "snuff out" the owner of Chuck's Gun Shop (comments he insisted were not intended as a threat).

But during his speech, Pfleger's voice raised and his face reddened as he pounded his podium while discussing issues such as racism in the war on drugs, homelessness, misogyny in rap lyrics and the federal government's response to victims of Hurricane Katrina. An excited crowd rose throughout the speech to shout support and applaud.

Pfleger suggested the media would do better to cover the HIV/AIDS epidemic than such trivial issues as entertainer Britney Spears' exploits. Pfleger contrasted the much publicized rescue of a white teenager with a ruptured appendix by a navy ship off the coast off Baja California with the treatment of uninsured black Americans by the current health care system.

"Every day, African-American children and senior citizens are turned away from hospitals who say, 'You have no health insurance. We can't help you,'" he said.

Pfleger said a recent "dangerous trend" has been to "sanitize" the message of King, whom he fondly called "radical."

"We have to be very clear," Pfleger said. "He was not simply some dreamer."

Pfleger criticized spending billions of dollars each month on the war in Iraq while "we say we have no money for No Child Left Behind or health care." He lamented the loss of "thousands and thousands of Iraqi lives that we don't seem to ever care about because they're not American."

The priest also claimed the Christian church has been "hijacked by right-wing profiteers" and that there has been a "right-wing conspiracy to rewrite" Jesus' anti-poverty message.

Pfleger expressed indignation that 40 years after King's death, the black community is "No. 1 in poverty, lack of health care, in poor schools and unemployment."

He ended his speech by urging his listeners to take action against injustice: "When you hear Dr. King say, 'I have a dream,' hear him shouting, 'My dream is in your hand. What are you going to do with it?'"

Carl Teichman, IWU director of government and community relations, said Pfleger's appearance at this year's luncheon was "a fitting tribute" to Corine Sims, the event's founder. Before she passed away last year, she instrumental in convincing Pfleger to attend, Teichman said.

Illinois State University also held a Martin Luther King Jr. Banquet on Saturday at the Bone Student Center with T. Hudson Williams, vice president of diversity and multicultural initiatives of Time Warner Inc., as guest speaker.

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Honoring King

Other events related to the Martin Luther King holiday include:

- Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. National Holiday Gospel Festival Celebration, 3 to 9 p.m. Monday, IWU Westbrook Auditorium, Presser Hall. 1210 Park St., Bloomington. Local choirs, soloists, singers and dancers. Free. People with disabilities requiring auxiliary aids, services or other arrangements should call (309) 556-3429.

- Festival of Spirituals in tribute to King, 11 a.m. to noon Wednesday at Evelyn Chapel at IWU, 1301 N. Park St., Bloomington. Chapel hour led by associate professor of music Carren Moham. Free.