Martin Luther King - January 15, 1929
By Gordonskene Saturday Jan 16, 2010 7:00pm
(Martin Luther King - born this day 81 years ago)
It's always tempting to ponder what the world would have been like had things gone differently. Had Gandhi not been assassinated, had neither Kennedy been assassinated, had Martin Luther King not been assassinated.
What sort of world? Had the goals been fully realized, had the plans continued, had the voices remained clear and not faded into memory. Had they all eventually gone peacefully in their sleep at the end of perfect days. Tempting to think about.
But life is never as it seems and fate always has different plans.
This weekend we're celebrating the life of Dr. Martin Luther King, born on this day, January 15, 1929. The world has changed immeasurably since the day he was born - due in no small part to him being in it.
No doubt there will be countless playings over the next few days of his landmark "I have a dream" speech - the film footage, scratched and faded will seem from another time. The famous phrases heard over and over will probably seem less potent now than they did that day in 1963. Pundits, the shrill, the painfully misguided and the Agenda Grinders will give their interpretations and the original intent will be distorted, if not the words themselves.
Rather than play that particular speech, I thought I would play something probably less known. In fact, something considered lost for a quite a while.
During Christmas I ran a holiday sermon delivered as part of the Canadian Broadcasting Company's Massey Lecture Series. The 5 part series devoted to lectures and sermons done by Dr. King. Today I am running Lecture #4 - "Non-Violence And Social Change".
Dr. Martin Luther King: “Life is sacred. Property is intended to serve life. And no matter how much we surround it with rights and respect it has no personal being. It is part of the earth man walks on. It is not man.”
The lecture talks about the recent (1967) riots and the current role of non-violence in the Civil Rights Movement. It's not a sermon and not a speech delivered to a crowd. It's a talk, given by him in a small room in a radio studio - one on one, spoken from the heart.
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King has always been an inspiration for me. I watched the civil rights movement unfold as a child and I always found him to be heroic.
Sadly, they don't make 'em like they used to.
Never let a Republican tell you that they were on King's side. They hated him. They still do hate him. Stay tuned to see what they say by the time this holiday is over.
It's always tempting to ponder what the world would have been like had things gone differently. Had Gandhi not been assassinated, had neither Kennedy been assassinated, had Martin Luther King not been assassinated.
And bush, cheney, robertson, rash, KKKlannity, beck walk freely and spew their shit. Proof-positive that the world ain't a fair place.
Kennedy would have served 2 terms and depending on how he would have handled Vietnam, then Bobby would have gotten in there. In my better dreams, Nixon and his minions never come into power, thereby possibly watering down the Iran crisis, and letting Carter in and defeating Reagan. By then, the Rethugs would be so weak and powerless that even sucking the teats of the RW Jebus folk wouldn't matter, thereby eliminating the Bush family rule and bringing in a more liberal Clinton. But alas, not to be, and probably a bit naive on my part. It's a dream, so what the hay?
A nice dream. Violence brought on this nightmare world we live in, so true.
"If any of you are around when I have to meet my day, I don’t want a long funeral. And if you get somebody to deliver the eulogy, tell them not to talk too long. (Yes) And every now and then I wonder what I want them to say. Tell them not to mention that I have a Nobel Peace Prize—that isn’t important. Tell them not to mention that I have three or four hundred other awards—that’s not important. Tell them not to mention where I went to school. (Yes)
I’d like somebody to mention that day that Martin Luther King, Jr., tried to give his life serving others. (Yes)
I’d like for somebody to say that day that Martin Luther King, Jr., tried to love somebody.
I want you to say that day that I tried to be right on the war question. (Amen)
I want you to be able to say that day that I did try to feed the hungry. (Yes)
And I want you to be able to say that day that I did try in my life to clothe those who were naked. (Yes)
I want you to say on that day that I did try in my life to visit those who were in prison. (Lord)
I want you to say that I tried to love and serve humanity. (Yes)
Yes, if you want to say that I was a drum major, say that I
was a drum major for justice. (Amen) Say that I was a drum major for peace. (Yes) I was a drum major for righteousness. And all of the other shallow things will not matter. (Yes) I won’t have any money to leave behind. I won’t have the fine and luxurious things of life to leave behind. But I just want to leave a committed life behind. (Amen) And that’s all I want to say."
Here is the entire sermon.
http://cantseetheforest.org/2008/01/21/the-dr...
A remarkable sermon from an extraordinary man. I am afraid we shall not see his kind again.
For what it's worth.
http://www.blackagendareport.com/?q=content/w...
There's a greater attention to details on the Black Agenda Report.
I like this reply.
“while reid is a legislative disaster well deserving of harsh criticism, cynthia, why all the furor about his comment that obama is a "light skinned" black man "with no Negro dialect unless he wanted to have one.”? isn't that an apt description of obomber? and isn't it also true that, were it not so, obomber would never have been able to get nominated, let alone elected? it is a telling comment that a "black" man who did not fit that description would never have been acceptable to white america or the capitalist power structure. that reality is what demands criticism, not the honest statement of a bumbling fool of a legislator.
you also seem to be criticizing reid for asking that ford not be supported. why? given who ford is and what he stands for [see margaret kinberly's column in this issue], the fact that he is black pales in comparison to his potential to cause harm to both black and white (and brown, and yellow) arerica.”
Been lurking here for several years and this is the post that finally got me off my duff to register on C&L, simply so I could say thanks. Powerful stuff, and I'm most appreciative for everything, both with this post and all that came before it.
Thanks for coming on board and for the nice words. I try my best. And with people like you, I try harder. It's great to be able to offer this stuff, rather than keep it locked up in a vault. History needs to breathe. Thanks for all the encouragement to keep it going.
G.
When I read David Halberstam's book "The Fifties" it was the first time that I realized how young Dr. King was when he died. When I think of what he could have achieved, had he had the time, it breaks my heart.
Meanwhile, the state of Alabama celebrated Monday also. However, it combines the birthdays of Martin Luther King, Jr. with Robert E. Lee. In Alabama, that might be what passes for bipartisanship.
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