Changing the status quo.
That was the message from the Rev. Cassandra Gould for the keynote speech at Monday's annual Jefferson City NAACP Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Prayer Breakfast and Founders Day.
Speaking at Quinn Chapel AME church, the church she pastors, Gould wore the outfit she had on while marching in Ferguson in 2014. The shirt said "Hope Dealer," and she said young people felt more at ease with that and took her more seriously compared to if she had worn a dress and 3-inch heels.
"We have the ability to change lives, and we still need to be held accountable if we see the need and don't do anything about it," she said.
Gould noted King put his life at risk and was willing to die to make the lives of those in the future better, and that if we as a society aren't willing to do the same then his work will have been in vain.
"If you're afraid you might lose your status because you might have to be uncomfortable standing up for what you know is right, then you need to change," she said. "I know there are many here who serve the King of Kings on Sunday, but have to serve King Nixon Monday through Friday because you have to pay your bills."
Gould acknowledged the Rev. John Bennett, who was in attendance, as having the courage to stand up for what was right.
Bennett was among a group of protesters who disrupted the state Senate's debate during the last weeks of the 2014 legislative session.
They were part of an event called a "Rally for Dignity" in which nearly 300 people rallied in the Capitol Rotunda and urged Missouri lawmakers to expand the Medicaid program as envisioned by the federal Affordable Care Act.
The Legislature's Republican leadership has been reluctant to consider the idea, arguing it's not financially sustainable in the long run.
None of the 23 pastors charged in that case have gone to trial.
"What are willing to put ourselves at risk," Gould said. "We need to do whatever it takes so our children have a better life.
"It's time to get out of our comfort zone and quit living in a bubble."
Gould said they needed to do whatever is necessary until leaders from Washington, D.C., to the state Capitol get the message.
"Shame on us if all we do is tell children to recite the "I Have a Dream' speech by Dr. King and not do the things to bring about the change he talked about in that speech," she said.