Sam Husseini (1/15/10) recalls a great media quote from one of Martin Luther King’s most powerful sermons, at the Ebenezer Baptist Church (4/30/67):
Been a lot of applauding over the last few years. They applauded our total movement; they’ve applauded me. America and most of its newspapers applauded me in Montgomery. And I stood before thousands of Negroes getting ready to riot when my home was bombed and said, “We can’t do it this way.” They applauded us in the sit-in movement–we non-violently decided to sit in at lunch counters. The applauded us on the Freedom Rides when we accepted blows without retaliation. They praised us in Albany and Birmingham and Selma, Alabama. Oh, the press was so noble in its applause, and so noble in its praise when I was saying, “Be non-violent toward Bull Connor”; when I was saying, “Be non-violent toward [Selma, Alabama segregationist sheriff] Jim Clark.” There’s something strangely inconsistent about a nation and a press that will praise you when you say, “Be non-violent toward Jim Clark,” but will curse and damn you when you say, “Be non-violent toward little brown Vietnamese children.” There’s something wrong with that press!
Read the whole text, or hear the whole sermon listen to excerpts on YouTube.
I think it’s always a dicey proposition to lionize any individual, including Dr. King. We are all imperfect creatures. Our mission in life should be to strive to overcome our many faults and become far better acquainted with our better angels, don’t you think?
That said, my sense of the man is that he had the courage to break with the power structure, knowing full well the costs, including possibly his life.
He did what his conscience demanded, and his courage allowed, and he was never satisfied with the limits of either.
I hope I’m correct in that assessment. And I hope each of us can follow that example. The times require no less.
I spent some quite meditation time today, contemplating the impact that the life and teachings of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. had on the world. As I thought of Dr. King, I wondered what experiences and historical events shaped his thoughts and logic. I considered the events that took place in his lifetime. Event such as the Nazi invasion of Poland and the massacre of the Jews across Europe. How did He process such atrocities intellectually? What I mean is, did he realize as a young man the parallels of the Jewish experience in Nazi Germany and the Black American experience? How history could have been so terribly different with the wrong type of leadership.
Leadership and vision determine history. I sincerely hope that the leaders of our time, all across the globe realize that a violent struggle for resources as fragile as hearts and minds is futile. In memory of Dr. King, and recognition of successful leadership please call, write, or Email a local, state, federal, or international leader and encourage them to negotiate honorably and lead selflessly.
the money used to needlessly kill people in iraq could have been used so productively here to save lives. if only the supreme crt. hadn’t elected bush.
There’s still lots wrong with the press. And because of that, King challenged us all to get the information we need on our own because he knew the press wasn’t giving it to us – and that’s still true today, and why I created this website:
http://www.WhatNewsShouldBe.org
Take “The King Challenge” on the middle of the website’s mainpage or download it in the form of 2-page flyer at
http://www.mediafire.com/?tyohmjdwngv
It has excerpts of one of Dr. King’s key sermons and it asks whether you can take to heart the words Dr. King spoke just 4 days before he was gunned down. Take “The King Challenge” and see.
better angels aside,mlk did not get a universally fair shake in the press even before his criticism of the war in southeast asia,and america’s class structure-even when he was limiting himself to the nonviolent dismantling of jim crow-a project which furthered the foreign and domestic policy agenda of the us government-he was often lathered with scurrilous personal attacks.lest no one be unnecessarily ignorant of his personal failings.
one example jumps out-patrick j buchanan used to print slime about mlk in the stlouis globe democrat which was fed to him by hoover’s fbi,which was so outrageous the latter did not wish to be associated with it.i can remember reading absurd accounts of the freedom rides,sit-ins,and voter registration drives which implied that they were all basically “cover stories” for deviant beatniks,hippies,and commies to undermine america while engaging their libertine proclivities,apparently under the direct supervision of mlk.
Among others, Dr King worked in the civil rights movement and supported the struggle with his life. Enough people were convicted by the truth to support civil rights legislation. While the struggle against racism is not over, neither are the lies, half truths, and false arguments, which were used against the movement in 1950 -1960s.
What was and is often presented as truth is often the subjective opinion of someone with an ax to grind. What is challenging is to accept an idea or fact that does not conform to one’s existing point of view. It took a while to realize the inequity of the status quo, more time to overcome it’s inertia and start moving toward solutions.