 |
|
Soon we will enjoy the holiday that commemorates Martin Luther King Jr. Day. In 1957, he was cited as one of the most admired religious leaders in the world. Time Magazine selected him, in 1957, as one of the ten outstanding personalities of the year.
Dr. King was the author of several books and received awards for “Measure of A Man,” in 1958. He was educated in the public schools of Atlanta, Georgia, studied at the University of Pennsylvania and Harvard University. In 1955, he received his Ph.D. degree in the field systematic theology from Boston University in the east.
|
Many of us are acquainted with Dr. King’s celebrated “I Have A Dream,” speech given in 1963 in Washington D.C. However, his wisdom can be found in several of his lesser known writings and speeches. Here are some to reflect on as the holiday approaches:
“…I never intend to adjust myself to economic conditions that will take necessities from the many to give luxuries to the few. I never intend to adjust myself to the madness of militarism, to self-defeating effects of physical violence. But in a day when sputniks and explorers are dashing through outer space and guided ballistic missiles are carving highways of death through the stratosphere, no nation can win a war. It is no longer the choice between violence and nonviolence. It is either nonviolence or nonexistence…”
“Social Justice and the Emerging New Age” address at Western Michigan University, (18 December 1963)
“The ultimate weakness of violence is that it is a descending spiral, begetting the very thing it seeks to destroy. Instead of diminishing evil, it multiplies it. Through violence, you may murder the liar, but you cannot murder the lie, nor establish the truth. Through violence, you may murder the hater, but you do not murder hate. In fact, violence merely increases hate. So it goes. … Returning hate for hate multiplies hate, adding deeper darkness to a night already devoid of stars. Darkness cannot drive out darkness: only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate: only love can do that.
‘Where Do We Go From Here?” as published in Where Do We Go from Here: Chaos or Community? (1967)
“We must live together as brothers or perish together as fools.” Speech in St. Louis, (March 22, 1964)
“I say to you that our goal is freedom, and I believe we are going to get there because however much she strays away from it, the goal of America is freedom. Abused and scorned though we may be as a people, our destiny is tied up in the destiny of America.” “Remaining Awake Through a Great Revolution” (31 March 1968)
“The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy.” Letters from Birmingham Jail (1963)
“I accept this award today with an abiding faith in America and an audacious faith in the future of mankind. I refuse to accept despair as the final response to the ambiguities of history. I refuse to accept the idea that the “isness” of man’s present nature makes him morally incapable of reaching up for the eternal “oughtness” that forever confronts him. I refuse to accept the idea that man is mere flotsam and jetsam in the river of life, unable to influence the unfolding events which surround him. I refuse to accept the view that mankind is so tragically bound to the starless midnight of racism and war that the bright daybreak of peace and brotherhood can never become a reality. I refuse to accept the cynical notion that nation after nation must spiral down a militaristic stairway into the hell of thermonuclear destruction. I believe that unarmed truth and unconditional love will have the final word in reality. This is why right, temporarily defeated, is stronger than evil triumphant.” Nobel Prize Acceptance Speech (1964).
Celebrate the holiday by reading and sharing his words and remembering his special place in our history.
alvaradofrazier.com 