Civil rights leader Rev. Martin Luther King is honored with a holiday in his memory today.The Monday following King’s January 15 birth date was declared a holiday in 1983 after a long struggle initiated in the House of Representatives by Michigan member John Conyers just four days after the civil rights leader had been assassinated in 1968.
Dr. King’s widow, Coretta Scott King, tirelessly advocated for a holiday to honor his legacy. She led campaigns to ensure his work for justice would never be forgotten. The demand was soon taken up trade union activists who highlighted that King was shot while supporting a strike by municipal workers in Memphis.
Writing in The Nation in 2006, William P Jones recounted how General Motors threatened to discipline a small group of employees who refused to work on King's birthday in 1969 but backed down after a larger group walked off their jobs in solidarity. Later that year striking New York City hospital workers returned to their jobs only after managers agreed to higher wages, better benefits and a paid holiday on King's birthday. The campaign spread: dressmakers in New York, car workers in Detroit and teachers in Chicago and Indianapolis either secured it as a holiday in contract negotiations or simply refused to work.
As support for King’s birthday being made a holiday grew, President Carter endorsed the idea, Stevie Wonder dedicated his 1980 song ‘Happy Birthday’ to it and six million people signed a petition backing a King Day Bill in Congress. However, after the Bill was passed by large majorities in the House and Senate in 1983, it took nearly two decades for every state to adopt it as a holiday. Though Martin Luther King Day is an American holiday, the man himself was thoroughly international. His political thoughts traverses all borders.Like so many strugglers in the long fight against racism, King appreciated that it was, at it's heart a global project.
This year Martin Luther King Day arrives on the same day as Donald Trump, a convicted Felon, abject racist, self dealing fraud and twice impeached president lie as he speaks the Oath of Office for the second timea let us reflect on the true meaning of leadership and the values it represents.
Dr Martin Luther King Jr. is a name that echoes through history as a symbol of justice, equality, and hope. Born on January 15, 1929, in Atlanta this visionary leader rose to national prominence when he led the boycott of the Montgomery’s transit system after Rosa Parks, an African-American, was arrested for refusing to give up her seat on a city bus.
King later helped form the Southern Christian Leadership Conference and went on to lead protests throughout the South and, in 1963, was a central figure in the March on Washington, becomming one of the most influential leaders of the 1950's and 1960s civil rights movement and advocated for racial equality and economic justice for all Americans. Known for his nonviolent approach, Dr. King believed in the power of peaceful resistance to combat racial injustice. His speeches stirred hearts and changed minds.
He spoke out passionately against what he considered the three evils: racism, poverty, and war, and was a major opponent of the Vietnam War. Dr King faced unimaginable challenges. Yet, his unwavering determination helped dismantle segregation and pave the way for the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
Before his tragic assassination on April 4, 1968 in Memphis. at the age of 39, Dr. King had been arrested several times and was investigated by the FBI under its COINTELPRO program for possible ties to Communists. His example of grassroots anti-racist, anti-capitalist, and anti-imperialist struggle continues to inspire new generations.
On August 28 1963 Martin Luther King gave his famous “I have a Dream” speech in Washington. which became a timeless call for equality.
"I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal." - Martin Luther King Jr.
Just four years later he said that the dream he had had that day was “a little superficial.”
Dr King’s world view, which was most comprehensively espoused not in his famous ‘I have a dream’ oratory in 1963 but in a much less well-known speech four years later that connected his civil rights crusade with the struggle against war and poverty.
The setting for the speech was a conference of ‘Clergy and Laymen Concerned About Vietnam’ held at the Riverside Church in Manhattan on April 4, 1967, packed with 3,000 people. King had given five sermons there previously but this was the moment when he outlined a wider world view that led to President Johnson cutting off contact with him and attacks in liberal and conservative papers alike. King had agonised over the speech for months. In opening, he said it was not easy to oppose the US government “in time of war” and described doing so as “a vocation of agony”. Explaining that many people had questioned the wisdom of him speaking, saying ‘peace and civil rights don’t mix’, he added: “And when I hear them, though I often understand the source of their concern, I am nevertheless greatly saddened, for such questions mean that the inquirers have not really known me, my commitment or my calling. Indeed, their questions suggest that they do not know the world in which they live.”
The full speech can be read here :-
While it is full of wonderful prose, King does not use the impassioned rhetoric of ‘I have a dream’ but gives instead seven reasons why he felt compelled to speak, an analysis of the history of the Vietnam war and his conclusion that it is “but a symptom of a far deeper malady within the American spirit”.
On the latter, he says presciently: “If we ignore this sobering reality, we will find ourselves organizing ‘clergy and laymen concerned’ committees for the next generation. They will be concerned about Guatemala -- Guatemala and Peru. They will be concerned about Thailand and Cambodia. They will be concerned about Mozambique and South Africa. We will be marching for these and a dozen other names and attending rallies without end, unless there is a significant and profound change in American life and policy.”
King calls the change that is need “a true revolution of values” and demands a shift from a society where “machines and computers, profit motives and property rights, are considered more important than people”. He says: “A true revolution of values will soon look uneasily on the glaring contrast of poverty and wealth. With righteous indignation, it will look across the seas and see individual capitalists of the West investing huge sums of money in Asia, Africa, and South America, only to take the profits out with no concern for the social betterment of the countries, and say, "This is not just." It will look at our alliance with the landed gentry of South America and say, "This is not just." The Western arrogance of feeling that it has everything to teach others and nothing to learn from them is not just.
“A true revolution of values will lay hand on the world order and say of war, "This way of settling differences is not just." This business of burning human beings with napalm, of filling our nation's homes with orphans and widows, of injecting poisonous drugs of hate into the veins of peoples normally humane, of sending men home from dark and bloody battlefields physically handicapped and psychologically deranged, cannot be reconciled with wisdom, justice, and love.
A nation that continues year after year to spend more money on military defense than on programs of social uplift is approaching spiritual death.”
Think about those words. Over recent decades, we have seen the spiritual death about which King warned unfold painfully with each new US war, descending now to the point where arming and justifying genocide against the Palestinian people is normalised in the upper circles of both parties in Washington.
Many years later we cannot let go of Dr King's dream, because, surely it is everybody's dream, we must continuously try to change the world, remember those in the U.S.A fighting for jobs and freedom, a land still lanquishing to find itself, while perpetrating injustice, discrimination and inequality. A country that imprisons more of their citizens than any other country in the world. African Americans in particular, though they are 12% of the population, make up 38% of the state prison population, despite their crimes being no different from their white and hispanic counterparts.
Martin Luther King Jr.'s legacy shines as a beacon of hope, progress, and the unwavering belief in a better tomorrow. Dr. King's steadfast commitment to justice, equality, and humanity shines as a beacon of hope and progress. His work was dedicated to building bridges, empowering communities, and creating a more just and equitable society. He inspired generations to rise against oppression through compassion and courage and believe in a better tomorrow. As Dr. King demonstrated, leadership is about uniting, uplifting, and transforming society for the collective good, leaving behind a legacy rooted in love, integrity, and humanity.
In stark contrast, today, America faces the somber reality of convicted felon Donald Trump's presidential inauguration. Trump's record stands as a troubling reminder of what leadership is not. Marked by controversy, division, self-interest, and retribution, his actions have repeatedly undermined democratic values and eroded the principles that bind this nation together.
Where Dr. King championed justice and unity, Trump has fueled lies, hatred, and bigotry, prioritized personal power, and threatened peoples rights, freedoms, rule of law, and our democracy.
Under Trump's leadership, the Republican Party has transformed into a vessel for wealth and authoritarianism, prioritizing power over the well-being of everyday Americans.
Leadership demands service to the people, not vengeance or exploitation. Yet, Trump,a 34-time convicted felon,has made clear his intent to punish his perceived enemies and prioritize self-preservation over accountability. Gravely dishonouring Dr. Kings deeds. Trump stands as a stark reminder of why we must hold leaders accountable with the highest standards of integrity.
Let Dr. King's legacy guide us in recognizing the profound difference between a leader who uplifts and unites and one who divides and prioritizes self-interest. Dr King's words can still be be both sobering and inspring, his words are a timeless representation of the struggles that disenfranchised people face.
Today, as we honor Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s legacy, we also celebrate his enduring vision of equality, peace, and community. His unwavering efforts and work for those on the margins, those facing oppression, and those often ignored and toward social justice, civil liberties, and equal rights for all,remains powerful and inspiring.
Lets continue to honor him and continue to live his legacy through our actions.Compassion has never been more important. So today, let’s recommit to building a world where kindness, equality, and truth are not ideals but realities. In the face of cruelty and injustice, speak out, and speak up, for surely history will judge us all for our silence. we can still find the courage to stand up and say enough.
'Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.' - Martin Luther King Jr.
Here is an old poem of mine in Dr. Kings honour
Strength to Love
Martin Luther King had a dream
That still today stirs our conscience,
He rejected violence to oppose racial injustice
Spread a message of peace, love and understanding,
His only weapons were his words and faith
As he marched in protest with his fellow man,
A force for good, but radical with intention
Pursued civil disobedience was not afraid
of confrontation,
We are all born equal under skin
This noble struggle never stops within,
The causes of poverty must still be eradicated
There is so much more room for change,
As fresh iniquities call, lets keep hope alive
Standing firm let our voices ring out,
Keep sharing deeds of deep principle
In the name of pride and in the name of love,
We are all still citizens of the world
As Martin Luther carries on reminding,
“Oppressed people cannot remain oppressed forever.
The yearning for freedom eventually manifests itself.”
We must continue to resist and overcome,
One day soon, all our dreams will be realised.
No comments:
Post a Comment