Happy birthday
It really doesn't matter what happens now. I left Atlanta this morning, and as we got started on the plane, there were six of us, the pilot said over the public address system, "We are sorry for the delay, but we have Dr. Martin Luther King on the plane. And to be sure that all of the bags were checked, and to be sure that nothing would be wrong with the plane, we had to check out everything carefully. And we've had the plane protected and guarded all night."And then I got to Memphis. And some began to say the threats, or talk about the threats that were out. What would happen to me from some of our sick white brothers?
Well, I don't know what will happen now. We've got some difficult days ahead. But it doesn't matter with me now. Because I've been to the mountaintop. And I don't mind. Like anybody, I would like to live a long life. Longevity has its place. But I'm not concerned about that now. I just want to do God's will. And He's allowed me to go up to the mountain. And I've looked over. And I've seen the promised land. I may not get there with you. But I want you to know tonight, that we, as a people, will get to the promised land. And I'm happy, tonight. I'm not worried about anything. I'm not fearing any man. Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord.
| Posted at 12:09 AM | Permalink |
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Comments (6)
I get chills every time I read that. Thanks.
Posted by Randy Leonard | January 15, 2005 12:33 AM
About 10 years ago, I traveled to Atlanta to see my sister. I insisted we go to the King Center to see the museum, his Ebenezer Baptist Church, his boyhood home and his grave site. There were just a handful of people there. When we went home, we drove through downtown Atlanta and there was a line around the block to get into the "World of Coca Cola". It always struck me that people really don't pay attention to those who really made a difference. We are so fortunate that this courageous man walked among us.
Posted by John Ray | January 15, 2005 11:03 AM
In 1990 (I was 23), I visited the same places in Atlanta as John. I also drove to Montgomery, Alabama and a few other places in a sort-of personal pilgrimage. MLK is a my hero and an inspiration, along with the likes of Jesus, St. Francis, Gandhi and Cesar Chavez.
Many people don't know or ignore that MLK wasn't very popular in the years after the March on Washington, the Nobel Peace prize and the passage of the Civil Rights and Voting Rights Acts. Many blacks felt King wasn't militant enough. However, MLK fell out of favor among most liberal whites and and blacks when he came out against the Vietnam War and called for economic justice and economic equality for all. King called for a "nonviolent revolution of the poor" and an Economic Bill Of Rights. King spent most of his last year organizing the Poor Peoples Campaign, a series of nationwide marches and demonstrations which began in May, 1968, shortly after his death. Unfortunately, the campaign couldn't survive the chaos after the assasinations of King and Bobby Kennedy, one of the few elected white liberals to support it.
Don't forget King was in Memphis to support striking city workers when he spoke the prophetic words Jack posted and give Randy chills whenever he hears them. Here's what King also told the crowd that night:
"You see, no labor is really menial unless you’re not getting adequate wages. People are always talking about menial labor. But if you’re getting a good wage as I know that throughsome unions they’ve brought it up...that isn’t menial labor. What makes it menial is the income, the wages...You are demanding that this city will respect the dignity of labor. So often we overlook the work and the
significance of those who are not in professional jobs,
of those who are not in the so-called big jobs. But let
me say to you tonight that whenever you are engaged
in work that serves humanity and is for the building of
humanity, it has dignity and it has worth.”
Posted by Eric Berg | January 15, 2005 3:45 PM
The whole speech (his last) is here.
Posted by Jack Bogdanski | January 15, 2005 4:30 PM
I've always gotten chills whenever I heard him speaking on the radio or read his speeches, and I still do to this day. I grew up In Memphis and it was Dr. King's assination that made me realize just how much I loathed the South and being a Southerner. I believe that he was a truly great human being.
Posted by Lily | January 16, 2005 7:37 PM
Especially timely now are his words about war. That's what I quoted today, his "Beyond Vietnam" speech.
Posted by Joan | January 17, 2005 9:46 AM