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The
Legacy of Martin Luther King, Jr.
An Inspiration for Reaching Back—The Legacy of Martin Luther King,
Jr.
All through the
month of January, and particularly on the 15th,
we proudly and humbly celebrate the birthday and life of
one of our own whose influence on both Blacks and Whites
has been, and continues to be, of immeasurable
significance. The impact of Dr. Martin Luther King,
Jr.’s leadership, personality and philosophy is of a
degree that warrants special consideration and attention
to this the 55th anniversary of his birth.
In a very real
sense, Dr. King was to the fulfillment of the American
Revolution, what George Washington was to the founding
of this nation and what Abraham Lincoln was to its
salvation. King had a singular talent for moving people
and directing events. He possessed the unusual capacity
of being able to disturb men and upset their
consciences.
In 1958, ten years before his
tragic death, King placed the Black Revolution in its
larger historical context:
| This a
great hour for the Negro. The challenge is
here. To become the instrument of great idea
is a privilege that history gives only
occasionally. Arnold Toynbee says in A
Study of History that it may be the
Negro who will give the new spiritual
dynamic to Western civilization that it so
desperately need to survive. I hope this is
possible. The spiritual power that the Negro
can radiate to the world comes from love,
understanding, good will, and nonviolence.
It may even be possible for the Negro,
through adherence to nonviolence, so to
challenge the nations of the world that they
will seriously seek an alternative to war
and destruction. In a day when Sputniks and
Explorers dash through outer space and
guided ballistic missiles are carving
highways of death through the stratosphere,
nobody can win a war. Today the choice is no
longer between violence and nonviolence. It
is either nonviolence or nonexistence. The
Negro may be God’s appeal to this age—an age
drifting rapidly to its doom. The eternal
appeal takes the form of a warning: “All who
take the sword will perish by the sword.” [Stride
Toward Freedom, p. 224.] |
The Kingian
Philosophy of Nonviolence
While others viewed nonviolence as
only one of the alternatives, for Martin Luther King,
Jr., it was “only road to freedom.” In September 1948
while a student at Crozer Theological: Seminary, he
heard Dr. A.J. Muste and Dr. Mordecai W. Johnson preach
of the life and teaching of Mahatma Gandhi, the leader
of Indian independence. Since his entrance at Crozer,
Martin had begun a serious quest for a way to eliminate
economic and social evil.
He began a prolonged study of the
writings of Gandhi and became a convert to the Gandhian
concept of satyagraha (truth-force or love-force)
and atmbal (soul-force). King described his
conversion thusly:
| As I delved deeper into
the philosophy of Gandhi, my skepticism
concerning the power of love gradually
diminished, and I came to see for the first
time that the Christian doctrine of love,
operating through the Gandhian method of
nonviolence, is one of the most potent
weapons available to an oppressed people in
their struggle for freedom. At that time,
however, I acquired only an intellectual
understanding and appreciation of the
position, and I had no firm determination to
organize it in a socially effective
situation. [Strength To Love,
p. 151] |
On October 31, 1954, Reverend
Martin Luther King, Jr. was installed as the 20th
pastor of the Dexter Avenue Baptist Church in
Montgomery, Alabama. One year later, Dr. King became
involved in a crisis in which the philosophy of
nonviolent resistance could be applied. On December 1,
1955, Mrs. Rosa Parks, a 42-year-old seamstress was
arrested because she refused to give her bus seat to a
white man.
When the Black people of Montgomery
decided that it was “more honorable to walk the streets
in dignity than to ride the buses in humiliation,” they
called on Dr. King to be their spokesman and leader of
the newly formed Montgomery Improvement Association
(MIA). The association began a nonviolent boycott of
Montgomery’s transit system.
| From the beginning a
basic philosophy guided the movement. This
guiding principle has since been referred to
variously as nonviolent resistance,
noncooperation, and passive resistance. But
in the first days of the protest none of
these expressions was mentioned; the phrase
most often heard was “Christian love.” It
was the Sermon on the Mount, rather than a
doctrine of passive resistance, that
initially inspired the Negroes of Montgomery
to dignified social action. It was Jesus of
Nazareth that stirred the Negroes to protest
with the creative weapon of love.…
Nonviolent resistance …
emerged as the technique of the movement,
while love stood as the regulating ideal. In
other words, Christ furnished the spirit and
motivation, while Gandhi furnished the
method. [Stride Toward Freedom,
pp. 84–85] |
At first regular biweekly mass
meetings were held in the local Black churches. At these
meetings the philosophy and principles of nonviolence
were taught. These meetings also served as invaluable
communication vehicles as Montgomery had no Black-owned
radio station nor widely circulated Black newspaper.
By 1963 the following pledge was
being signed by volunteers for sit-in demonstrations in
the restaurants of Birmingham:
| I hereby pledge myself—my
person and body—to nonviolent movement.
Therefore I will keep the following ten
commandments:
1. MEDITATE daily on
the teachings and life of Jesus.
2. REMEMBER always
that the nonviolent movement in Birmingham
seeks justice and reconciliation—not
victory.
3. WALK AND TALK in
the manner of love, for God is love.
4. PRAY daily to be
used by God in order that all men might be
free.
5. SACRIFICE personal
wishes in order that all men might be free.
6. OBSERVE with both
friend and for the ordinary rules of
courtesy.
7. SEEK to perform
regular service for others and for the
world.
8. REFRAIN from the
violence of fist, tongue, or heart.
9. STRIVE to be in
good spiritual and bodily health.
10. FOLLOW the
directions of the movement and of the
captain on a demonstration.
I sign this pledge, having
seriously considered what I do and with the
determination and will to persevere.
Name
Address
Phone
Nearest Relative
Address
Besides demonstrations, I
could also help the movement by:
(Circle the proper items)
Run errands, Drive my car,
Fix food for volunteers, Clerical work, Make
phone calls, Answer phones, Mimeograph,
Type, Print signs, Distribute leaflets.
Alabama Christian Movement
For Human Rights
Birmingham Affiliate of
S.C.L.C.
505½ North 17th Street
F.L. Shuttesworth,
President |
A
Suffering Servant
Through his personal trials, Martin
Luther King, Jr., learned the value of unmerited
suffering. Although he was loath to speak of his
sufferings lest he develop a “martyr complex,” the
positive influence they exerted on his ideas overcame
his reluctance.
| Due to my involvement in the struggle for
the freedom of my people, I have known very
few quiet days in the last few years. I have
been imprisoned in Alabama and Georgia jails
twelve times. My home has been bombed twice.
A day seldom passes that my family and I are
not the recipients of-threats of death. I
have been battered by the storms of
persecution. I must admit that at times I
have felt that I could no longer bear such a
heavy burden, and have been tempted to
retreat to a more quiet and serene life. But
every time such a temptation appeared,
something came to strengthen and sustain my
determination. I have learned now that the
Master’s burden is light precisely when we
take his yoke upon us.
My personal trials have also
taught me the value of unmerited suffering.
As my sufferings mounted I soon realized
that there were two ways in which I could
respond to my situation—either to react with
bitterness or seek to transform the
suffering into a creative force. I decided
to follow the latter course. Recognizing the
necessity for suffering, I have tried to
make of it a virtue. If only to save myself
from bitterness, I have attempted to see my
personal ordeals as an opportunity to
transfigure myself and heal the people
involved in the tragic situation which now
obtains. I have lived these last few years
with the conviction that unearned suffering
is redemptive. There are some who still find
the cross a stumbling block, others consider
it foolishness, but I am more convinced than
ever before that it is the power of God unto
social and individual salvation. So like the
Apostle Paul I can now humbly, yet proudly,
say, “I bear in my body the marks of the
Lord Jesus.” [Strength To Love, pp.
153–154.] |
The Basic Aspects
of Nonviolence
Some of the basic aspects of this
philosophy are:
1. Nonviolent resistance is
not a method for cowards; it does resist. If one uses
this method because he is afraid or merely because he
lacks the instruments of violence, he is not truly
nonviolent.… The method is passive physically, but
strongly active spiritually. It is not passive
nonresistance to evil, it is active nonviolent resistant
to evil.
2. It does not seek to defeat
or humiliate the opponent, but to win his friendship and
understanding.
3. The attack is directed
against forces of evi1 rather than against persons who
happen to be doing the evil. It is evil that the
nonviolent resister seeks to defeat, not the persons
victimized by evil.
4. [There] is willingness to
accept suffering without retaliation, to accept blows
from the opponent without striking back.
5. It avoids not only
external physical violence but also internal violence of
spirit.… At the center of nonviolence stands the
principle of love.
6. It is based on the conviction that the
universe is on the side of justice.… The believer in
nonviolence has deep faith in the future.
[Excerpted from
Stride Toward Freedom, pp. 101–106.]
What Did
Nonviolence Accomplish?
Among the accomplishments of the
nonviolent civil disobedience movement are the
following:
1. It provided motive and
justification for the Black liberation movement.
2. It helped the Black
movement in its struggle for greater economic and social
justice and equality.
3. It helped to inspire
southern Blacks with a new sense of dignity and self
worth.
4. It gave the Black masses
a tool for dislodging the burden of segregation.
5. It gave every person,
regardless of his or her economic or social status in
life, a chance to participate as partners and equals in
the common struggle toward self liberation.
Martin Luther King, Jr.’s political
philosophy has been criticized for having “philosophical
shortcomings, logical inconsistencies, moral idealism
and inherent biases.” But even his critics concede that
the dismantling of entrenched southern segregation laws
and practices did not begin until the leadership passes
to Dr. King. With his arrival the old order began to
pass away—not suddenly but surely.
A Prince of Peace
On December 10, 1964, Dr. King was
awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in Oslo, Norway.
These five prestigious prizes, amounting to almost
$40,000 each, are awarded each year by the Noble
Foundation from the bequest of Alfred Bernhard Noble for
outstanding achievement in physics, chemistry, medicine
and literature, and for the promotion of peace.
The following excerpts from Dr.
King’s Acceptance Speech express, in a way no
otherwise possible, the greatness of the man and the
dept of his commitment to freedom and justice:
|
Your Majesty, your Royal
Highness, Mr. President, excellencies,
ladies and gentlemen:
I accept the Nobel prize
for peace at a moment when 22 million
Negroes of the United States of America are
engaged in a creative battle to end the long
night of racial injustice. I accept this
award in behalf of a civil rights movement
which is moving with determination and a
majestic scorn for risk and danger to
establish a reign of freedom and a rule of
justice.
I am mindful that only
yesterday in Birmingham, Ala., our children,
crying out for brotherhood, were answered
with fire hoses, snarling dogs and even
death. I am mindful that only yesterday in
Philadelphia, Miss., young people seeking to
secure the right to vote were brutalized and
murdered.
I am mindful that
debilitating and grinding poverty afflicts
my people and chains them to the lowest rung
of the economic ladder.
Therefore, I must ask why
this prize is awarded to a movement which is
beleagured and committed to unrelenting
struggle; to a movement which has not won
the very peace and brotherhood which is the
essence of the Nobel prize.
After contemplation, I
conclude that this award which I receive on
behalf of that movement is profound
recognition that nonviolence is the answer
to the crucial political and moral question
of our time—the need for man to overcome
oppression and violence without resorting to
violence and oppression.
Civilization and violence
are antithetical concepts. Negroes of the
United States, following the people of
India, have demonstrated that nonviolence is
not sterile passivity, but a powerful moral
force which makes for social transformation.
Sooner or later, all the people of the world
will have to discover a way to live together
in peace, and thereby transform this pending
cosmic elegy into a creative psalm of
brotherhood.
I accept this award
today, with an abiding faith in America and
an audacious faith in the future of mankind.
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 which surrounds 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.
This faith can give us
courage to face the uncertainties of the
future. It will give our tired feet new
strength as we continue our forward stride
toward the city of freedom. When our days
become dreary with low-hovering clouds and
our nights become darker than a thousand
midnights, we will know that we are living
in the creative turmoil of a genuine
civilization struggling to be born.
Today I come to Oslo as a
trustee, inspired and with renewed
dedication to humanity. I accept this prize
on behalf of all men who love peace and
brotherhood. |
Source: National BLACK MONITOR •
January, 1984
posted 3 April 2006 |
