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Books by
and about Martin Luther King, Jr.
The Autobiography of Martin Luther King, Jr.
/
Strength to Love /
The Measure of a Man /
Why We Can't Wait
A Testament of Hope /
A Knock at Midnight /
The Papers of Martin Luther King, Jr., 1948-1963
Where Do We Go from Here: Chaos or Community /
Stride Toward Freedom: The Montgomery Story
Behind the Dream: The Making of the Speech that Transformed a
Nation
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What
Would
Martin Luther
King Jr. Say and Do?
By Junious
Ricardo Stanton
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On some positions, cowardice asks the question, 'is it
safe?' Expediency asks the question, 'is it politic?' Vanity
asks the question, 'is it popular?' But conscious asks the
question 'is it right?' And then comes a time when a true
follower of Jesus Christ must take a stand that's neither
safe, nor politic, nor popular but he must take that stand
because it is right.—Martin Luther King Jr.
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As we celebrate
the birthday and legacy of Martin Luther King Jr. let us pause
and make the connection between what he stood for, what he
dedicated his life to and resolving if what he stood for and
dedicated his life for is worth celebrating, shouldn't we do
likewise. If not then we might as well stop saying we are
honoring him, his life and legacy and shut up. The monopoly
media likes to bombard us with the sound byte of Martin Luther
King Jr. "I have a Dream" speech, the part where he
talks about all men living together, but they conveniently
ignore the earlier part where he talks about AmeriKKKa's
promissory note, the note of justice, and equal treatment under
the law, that came back marked "insufficient funds."
They never play
his speeches that oppose the Viet Nam War, why is that? If they
don't and we know that his opposition to violence and war are
what made him stand out in bold contrast to his contemporaries
in the clergy, men like Billy Graham who supported Lyndon
Johnson and Richard Nixon's war in Southeast Asia, or Norman
Vincent Peale who never once spoke out against racial
oppression, why don't we acknowledge these virtues that made
King a hero, especially at a time when AmeriKKKa has morphed
into the planet's biggest bully, picking on the weak,
bogarding the lunch money of the lame and infirm of the world.
What would
Martin Luther King Jr. say to George W. Bush about publicly
calling for regime change in Iraq after stealing the election of
2000 in AmeriKKKa? What would King say to the cowardly and
immoral U.S. Congress about their limp and non-existent
opposition to the concept of pre-emptive strikes and use of
nuclear weapons? At the time of his assassination King was
rumbling on several fronts, supporting the sanitation workers in
Memphis and planning the Poor People's Campaign in Washington
D.C. to call attention to the quantum gap between the have's and
have nots and how the War in Viet Nam was contributing to this
gap.
At least in 1968
there was a sizable anti-war movement in the U.S. and King's
joining that movement caused the ruling elites great chagrin.
His Poor People's Campaign with its emphasis on wealth
disparities and policies that perpetuated those inequities while
the Military-Industrial Complex was growing richer every day and
the attention he focused on AmeriKKKa's immoral war in Southeast
Asia is what prompted the powers that be to order his
assassination.
But let us
project what we know about King and imagine he was still alive
with us now, what would he say and do? I believe he would oppose
Bush administration's fascist agenda. I believe he would be
calling for rallies, marches, boycotts and massive civil
disobedience to call attention to AmeriKKKa's wickedness and
galvanize the grass roots to action. I believe Martin Luther
King Jr. would denounce the masses' induced passivity and
acquiescence in the face of fascism and warmongering. King liked
to quote the Biblical prophet Isaiah who spoke of truth, justice
and righteousness.
King was not an
Afrocentric theologian but I believe if he lived he would have
looked at and rethought African history, how the ancient Hebrews
were influenced by Kemet and Ethiopia and be forced to
acknowledge the righteousness Isaiah talked about was inherent
in the culture of Africa. King might have realized that Maat
(Divine Order, Balance, Harmony, Truth, Justice, Righteousness
and Reciprocity) was the moral/ethical model for Hebrew prophecy
and called upon this ancient African moral and ethical building
block to rally against the forces of Isfet (Disorder, deceit,
chaos, disharmony and war).
As we prepare to
celebrate the life and sacrifices of this man, we must do some
serious introspection and ask ourselves not only what would
Martin say or do, where would he stand on the great issues of
today, but more importantly where do I/we stand? Are we trying
to be safe popular, expedient or are we committed to doing the
right thing? We must look at the world and determine how
we can alter AmeriKKKa's descent into the moral abyss of fascist
imperialism?
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7 January 2003 |
