In 1960, Gerald Durley arrived at Tennessee State University expecting to become a professional basketball player. Instead, he met Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr.
The civil rights struggle became personal the day he tried on a cap in a Nashville department store. Although it was too small, the manager forced him to buy it, asking, "Who's going to buy a hat that's been on your woolly head?" After graduation, the Peace Corps in Nigeria opened other possibilities. "I saw people with the same complexion as me and they were in charge."
Determined to help the black community, Durley became a psychologist, but was unable to give people what they needed most, a belief in themselves. He earned a divinity degree, like his father, and for the past 18 years has been pastor of Atlanta's Providence Missionary Baptist Church.
Today, seeking to bring together all the city's communities, he worries about a growing level of fear and distrust.
