Martin Luther King, Jr. would have been 72 this year. It's hard to picture
him as an old man, an elder. Would he have remained erect in his bearing? Would
he have grown gray or bald? Would his waistline have grown from eating his favorite
soul foods through the years? But most of all I wonder what wisdom this Nobel
laureate would have to share with us in these difficult days as a nation.
The word terrorist did exist during his lifetime. It was used to describe South
Africans who were members of the African National Congress and the Pan African
Congress, usually along with the word Communist. But it was not an everyday
word in the vocabulary of Dr. King or most people of the world. The concept
of killing innocent people for a political cause would have been unthinkable
for him. As one of the 20th century's two most outstanding spokespersons for
non-violence and as one who dedicated his adult life to the principles of non-violence,
Dr. King undoubtedly would have been deeply saddened by the events of September
11.
But, somehow, I don't think he would have been surprised. He was, after all,
a man of God who understood the many levels in the never-ending struggle between
good and evil in the world. In his sermons he sometimes preached about this
struggle, reminding his listeners that evil is a stark, grim and colossal reality.
He had seen that struggle first hand as little black children were attacked
by water hoses and dogs set upon them by Alabama sheriffs. He had seen that
struggle first hand in the ghettoes of the nation, where blacks were crowded
into poor housing with poor schools and few jobs and in the rural areas, where
blacks lived in shacks with no electricity or running water, and where sharecropping
jobs forced them into lifetimes of poverty and oppression. He had seen that
struggle between good and evil in India, where he had visited and seen the extreme
poverty of millions of Indians while our nation paid our farmers to store unused
food in silos full of grain.
He was, after all, a prophet who warned our nation that our tendency toward
materialistic narcissism would come to haunt us. He cautioned that we live in
a great world house and asked how we could live richly while our neighbors around
the world starved. In his final book, Where Do We Go from Here: Chaos
or Community?, Dr. King wrote, "When machines and computers, profit
motives and property rights are considered more important than people, the giant
triplets of racism, materialism and militarism are incapable of being conquered."
And he called upon our nation, the richest in the world and perhaps the richest
ever in history, to make qualitative and quantitative sacrifices so that all
in the world might live in fullness and peace.
He was, after all, an outspoken advocate for non-violence in a violent world.
"We can no longer afford to worship the God of hate or bow before the altar
of retaliation," he warned in that same last book, adding that time was
running out, but that we still had a choice between nonviolent coexistence or
violent coannihilation. He spoke out against the war in Vietnam, despite the
condemnation of many in the African American community and by some of his supporters
and funders in white America.
As we pause once again to remember this remarkable man, let us remember more
than just his "I Have a Dream" speech in 1963. Let us remember also
the speeches and sermons and writings and actions of his final five years -
years when he challenged this nation not only to end its racism, but to end
its economic injustices and its militarism. Let us remember that he died in
Memphis, marching with the black sanitation workers for justice. Let us remember
that he died, having had the courage to speak out for what he believed, no matter
what the winds of public opinion or the powers that be said.
In the citation of the posthumous Presidential Medal of Freedom given to Dr.
King in 1977, it says in part:
"Martin Luther King, Jr. was the conscience of his generation...He helped
us overcome our ignorance of one another. He spoke out against a war he felt
was unjust, as he had spoken out against laws that were unfair. He made our
nation stronger because he made it better. Honored by kings, he continued to
his last days to strive for a world where the poorest and humblest among us
could enjoy the fulfillment of the promises of our founding father. His life
informed us, his dreams sustain us yet."
May a new generation of drum majors for justice be born. May they become the
consciences of their generation and those to come. That is my prayer on the
birthday of Martin Luther King, Jr.