It is always important to show the legacy of the Baptist clergyman Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. He is an icon of the ages. In 2020, it is very historic to promote the Dream that he audaciously advocated. In our generation in 2020, we see a racist, sexist President impeached, we witness a Presidential election (among Democratic progressives and moderates), and we see massive technological plus social changes being abundant. Tons of people now are helping the sick, defending women, loving black human beings, and being an upright example of excellence. Still, we have so far to go. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was born in Atlanta, Georgia in the year of 1929 at January. His father and grandfathers were well known preachers of spiritual views. Therefore, Dr. King (who loved to preach at Atlanta's Ebenezer Baptist Church) preached the Gospel in many places of the world, and he opposed materialism (as some Wall Street bankers are not in prison for financial corruption). His father was named Martin Luther King Sr. and his mother was Alberta Williams King. Not only that, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was a revolutionary who disagreed with racism, economic exploitation, and militarism. Also, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was such an intellectual child that he went into Morehouse College at the age of 15 by 1944. As early as 1944, Dr. King published a letter to the Atlanta Constitution to say that black people are "entitled to the basic rights and opportunities of American citizens." Just like many young people, he played football and basketball. He had many friends. Likewise, he was a victim of racism. On a bus, he was forced to go into the back of a bus (after an academic competition during his youth). His mother and his father taught him to stand up against racial injustice.
He was stabbed and assaulted by people. A stone hit his head by rabid racists in the Chicago area back in 1966. Yet, he followed the principle of Love. In his view, Love is the most powerful force in the Universe, because it has the transformative power to cause even an enemy to become a friend. Love is intertwined with the personality of God in Dr. King's eyes, because God is Love. In other words, we want folks to wake up. It is not enough to condemn evil (which we must do). We have to be active to change lives for the better. He earned his Ph.D. As a student of theology (as he came into Crozier Theological Seminary in Chester, Pennsylvania and in Boston), philosophy, politics, and economics, he enjoyed debate and intellectual curiosity. Dr. King earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in sociology in 1948. He met Coretta Scott King by the time of his 20s. Coretta was just as dedicated to justice as Dr. King was. Coretta Scott King was from Alabama. She opposed nuclear bombs, she opposed the Vietnam War, and she was involved in pro-peace groups. Coretta joined the NAACP early on, and she was a great singer. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Coretta Scott King married at 1953. Dr. King started his preaching career in Montgomery, Alabama at Dexter Avenue Baptist Church. This came during the time of 1954 Brown v. Board of Education Supreme Court decision that banned public school segregation. Later, the Montgomery bus boycott existed.
Many leaders in Montgomery choose Dr. King, because he was young, eloquent, and wasn't completely controlled by the elites in the city. He was made leader of the MIA or the Montgomery Improvement Association. Dr. King spoke loudly in favor of freedom and encouraged the boycott. In his speeches, he invoked the Bible, the Constitution, and the aspirations of black people to be free. The bus boycott included men, women, and children to end segregation like Rosa Parks, Claudette Colvin, Mary Louise Smith, Jo Ann Robinson, E.D. Nixon, Georgia Gilmore, etc. After Dr. King's home was bombed, he never gave up. At that time, he prayed to God to give him strength. The cause was victorious as the Montgomery Bus Boycott caused the buses to be integrated. After that, Dr. King increased his popularity. Dr. King was on magazine covers, he started to write a book, and he was beloved by our people. He spoke from New York City to California to promote nonviolent resistance. There was a time when Dr. King owned a gun for self defense, but Bayard Rustin encouraged him (at Montgomery) to follow nonviolence involving public demonstrations. Dr. King felt that to fight with nonviolence was better than fighting against the government using guns recklessly. Yet, Dr. King always believed that family have every right to have a gun to protect their family in their homes. Dr. King worked with Eisenhower and Nixon to try to get civil rights legislation passed, but the Civil Rights bills weren't strong during the 1950's.
Dr. King supported JFK since he used his power to get him out of jail. John F. Kennedy as President did many great things for civil rights, and Dr. King had to encourage him to be more militant. JFK wanted equality primarily by the courts not by mostly demonstrations. Dr. King wanted equality by both the courts and civil disobedience plus demonstrations. It is not a secret that Dr. King publicly praised and criticized President John F. Kennedy throughout his Presidency. JFK explicitly supported the Civil Rights Act and racial equality in his historic June 1963 speech (this was when Medgar Evers would later be assassinated in 1963). As early as 1952, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. praised socialism, labor rights, and social justice. He praised Norman Thomas in an article, and Norman Thomas was a famous socialist. This is why the FBI stalked him. The FBI via J. Edgar Hoover hated Dr. King, because Dr. King was a progressive, he was a democratic socialist, and he wanted a radical redistribution of political plus economic power. Not to mention that it is no secret that J. Edgar Hoover was a racist who didn't like socially conscious black people. Hoover was a hypocrite, because he claimed to represent democratic principles in public, but behind closed doors, he authorized illegal, warrantless wiretaps against those who disagreed with Hoover. Hoover promoted COINTELPRO that slandered and illegal monitored civil rights and pro-freedom leaders. Also, J. Edgar Hoover personally prevented federal prosecution against the Klan members involved in the terrorist bombing against the kids at the 16th Street Baptist Church. The FBI falsely accused Dr. King of being a Communist when Levison left Communism by 1960, and Dr. King publicly condemned Soviet style Communism (in speeches and in his books. Dr. King didn't agree with Communism). By 1962, Dr. King worked in Albany, Georgia, but it wasn't a victory. This came after the 1960 sit ins in Greensboro, North Carolina. Dr. King and other activists wanted total desegregation of Albany, Georgia's theaters, restaurants, schools, libraries, etc. SNCC rose up, while Dr. King was a leader in the SCLC or the Southern Christian Leadership Council. SCLC were mostly made up of religious people, but SNCC were made up of mostly young people who did grassroots organizing (as advocated by Ella Baker). The Urban League worked in the job arena to advance employment opportunities for black Americans, and the NAACP advanced legislative plus voting rights work. Dr. King continued to fight for justice in 1963 in Birmingham, St. Augustine, Florida, and other places of America. The 1963 movement in Birmingham involved adults and later children to march. This was controversial, because many people didn't want children in demonstrations. When children were assaulted with water, tons of people were outraged and angry over that including Malcolm X. Fred Shuttesworth was a leading preacher involved in the Birmingham movement. Even Dr. King was jailed in 1963 during that movement too. He was criticized by moderate Christian preachers, moderate Jewish rabbis, and moderate political leaders for his demonstrations in Birmingham. Dr. King responded to them in his A Letter From a Birmingham Jail. It was a very powerful, eloquent letter that described his arguments and justifications for his actions. The letter said that freedom shouldn't be delayed based upon time. Freedom must be given to all people by birthright. Also, he said that he would oppose Hitler's unjust, legal laws against Jewish people, because an unjust law is no law at all. Dr. King's letter refuted the white moderate's call for patience and tokenism. Dr. King said that justice to exist for all people, which includes black people as well. The letter made many excellent points that when black people are victims of humiliation, cursing, lynching, murder, and other evils by racists, then you have every justification to fight for black freedom.
Dr. King, Randolph, Rustin, and others created the 1963 March on Washington. That march wasn't just about promoting the Dream of racial equality. It was about ending police brutality, investments in education, federal government investments in housing, passing living wages, and other progressive ideals. It took many hours and tons of people to make the March on Washington a reality. It was not without controversies. Many people like Malcolm X didn't view it as militant enough. Far right people viewed it as going too far. Many women speakers were restricted to speak there, and that was wrong. John Lewis had his speech censored, which I don't agree with. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. gave his "I Have a Dream Speech" which called for justice. It was made up of many parts from the indictment of America's injustices to black people to his dream of racial equality among all people. He at times gave his own words without a script. His dream was spoken about previously in Detroit during 1963 too. The I Have a Dream speech galvanized popularity for the agenda of the Civil Rights Movement. Later, the four little black girls were killed via a bombing in Birmingham, Alabama. These girls just wanted to worship God in their own way. Their names are Addie Mae Collins, Denise McNair, Carole Robertson, and Cynthia Welsey. Dr. King gave the eulogy to blame not only the racists for their deaths, but the moderates who wanted compliance instead of human liberation for their deaths as well. Dr. King later received the Nobel Peace Prize for his work in America in 1964. Hoover was furious, but Hoover can't stop the truth that progressive solutions are a necessity in ending reactionary injustices. After long fights, the Civil Rights Act was passed in 1964. It was the most progressive form of legislation involving race since Reconstruction. LBJ signed the bill. It came after the 1963 Birmingham protests (where racists cops used water hoses on men, women, and children). 1964 saw Fannie Lou Hamer opposing the Democratic Party restricting seats from the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party (MFDP) which opposed segregationists in the Deep South. After that event, many SNCC came into Africa and some rejected mainstream political activism all together. Malcolm X passed away in 1965. The irony is that both Dr. King and Malcolm X were becoming more progressive as time went on. Freedom Summer existed in 1964 where young people came into the South to help with voting, education, and civil rights. In that same year, Goodman, Chaney, and Schwerner were murdered by racists in Mississippi (the NYC public school boycotts happened in 1964 too). Malcolm X was in the Nation of Islam until 1964. Later, he became more internationalist, he promoted Pan-African Unity, he opposed the Vietnam War, and wanted self-defense to be a means to gain human rights. Both Malcolm X and Dr. King believed in the same goal (which is justice for black people). They disagreed on tactics, and both them shook hands in 1964. After his 1964 Hajj, Malcolm X was transformed to embraced more insights about life in general. His Organization of Afro-American Unity inspires us to this day.
Bloody Sunday was an event in the Selma movement where peaceful protesters were viciously assaulted by the police in March of 1965. John Lewis and other people were almost killed. Amelia Platts Boynton Robinson was viciously assaulted too. The Voting Rights Act was passed by the work of Dr. King, SNCC, other SCLC leaders, more unsung heroes, and other courageous people in Selma, Alabama. Many people died in the quest for civil rights and voting rights. These people include people of every color. More people could now vote for the first time in their lives. The Voting Rights Act being passed in 1965 signaled the end of one phrase of the American Civil Rights movement. A new chapter came with the rebellions in Watts. The people rebelling didn't do so for no reason. After years of police brutality, racism, economic exploitation, and lax resources, the residents of Watts, Los Angeles rebelled.
Dr. King came and condemned riots, but he made it is clear that a riot is the language of the unheard. Dr. King wanted government intervention to improve the conditions of people living in poverty and oppression. Class oppression is real. Many of our people live in neo-colonialism even in the States. Dr. King was booed when he was in Los Angeles, because people were frustrated with the lack of progress involving their daily lives. Dr. King understood that. He worked in 1965 and made statements against the Vietnam War in public. LBJ wanted Dr. King to not mention such words. LBJ lied and said that he was making a negotiated settlement. By 1966, Dr. King was mostly silent on the Vietnam War, and worked in non-Southern cities like Chicago, Milwaukee, etc. He wanted housing discrimination to end in Chicago along with adequate education, an end to slums, great transpiration, great health care, and justice. Chicago was different than the South. Chicago had a larger urban community. Dr. King tried his best to talk with Chicago residents including some members of the Black P. Stone Rangers gang to embrace nonviolence. Chicago had more party bosses, and some black preachers there were pro-Daley. Chicago leader Al Raby supported Dr. King in his cause. The racism in Chicago was fierce. Chicago is heavily segregated even among white ethnic groups (like Lithuanians, Irish, Russians, Greek people, Romanians, Polish, etc.). Dr. King's ally Jesse Jackson stayed in Chicago to promote Operation Breadbasket (to basically prevent corporations from discriminating against black people or face boycotts). Dr. King had to deal with Black Power in 1966 as advocated by Kwame Ture in public on June 17, 1966. Kwame Ture called for Black Power in Greenwood, Mississippi. Floyd McKissick of CORE also agreed with Black Power. Kwame Ture wanted black institutions and black people to build a powerbase so powerful to stop white racism. It was basically a call for black independence. He wanted white people to go into their communities to fight racism among their people. Dr. King agreed with black economic and political development as found in Black Power. He rejected separatism, he believed in the beauty of Blackness, and he expressed concerns about the connotations of the words of Black Power. The Black Panthers existed in 1966 with Bobby Seale and Huey Newton. By the end of 1966, Dr. King was in a crossroads. Many wanted him to go the moderate path and just discuss about civil rights. Others wanted him to expose the Vietnam War as unjust and wrong. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. would choose the later path. He knew what he had to do. He knew that he would risk his life in doing it, but he knew that he was right on Vietnam War question. In early January 1967, he was in Jamaica where he was writing his final book, "Where Do We do From here?: Community or Chaos." Bevel inspired him to oppose the war in a higher level. Dr. King seeing his children with napalm on them was the final straw. He publicly opposed the war in a speech in February 1967. Dr. King was in end anti-war rallies in Chicago plus New York City.
Dr. King's April 4, 1967 speech at the Riverside Baptist Church was one of his greatest speeches. It outlined his arguments for his opposition to the Vietnam War, and it outlined solutions. Dr. King said that the war stripped programs from America (that could be used to build up urban and rural communities), it harmed the lives of both Americans and Vietnamese people, it didn't advanced a negotiated settlement, it is against national plus international law (like the Geneva Accords), and war crimes were in that war. Anti-war activists praised him. The political establishment (even some moderate black civil rights leaders) criticized him. Editorials from TIME, The New York Times, and other magazines disrespected him. Whitney Young had an argument with Dr. King on Dr. King's opposition to the war. Many in the media called him wrong, and some extremists called him a traitor. LBJ cursed him, and Hoover continued to illegally spy on him. Dr. King didn't back down though. He gave more speeches in London, Norfolk, Virginia, California, and all over the world. He helped to make Cleveland elect its first black mayor. Dr. King gave a very progressive speech in August 1967 called The Three Evils speech. in that speech, Dr. King condemned socialism for the rich and capitalism for the poor. He also wanted a boycott of the 1968 Olympics until changes are met. He worked with Memphis sanitation workers in early 1968 in order for them to have living wages, no bad conditions, and racism abolished. The strikers wore "I Am a Man" signs. The people, who supported him in Memphis, loved Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. The leaders of the Memphis sanitation strike were: T. O. Jones, Reverend James Lawson, Echol Cole, Tarlease Matthews, Maxine Smith, and other people. He was part of one protest that ended via the agent provocateurs agitating violence. Many strikers were victims of police brutality. His friends loved him like Dorothy Cotton, Hosea Williams, and Ralph Abernathy. While this was going on, there was the Poor People Campaign. It was a planned rally by Dr. King and others to force the federal government to address poverty. He announced it in 1967 and wanted it to happen by Spring 1968. He organized black people, Latino Americans, Native Americans, poor white people from Appalachia, and other human beings to join up in this cause. The Poor People Campaign wanted billions of dollars to invest in fighting poverty, building housing, and utilize other acts to help humanity. Dr. King's Christmas sermon on peace said the following words:
"...Now let me say that the next thing we must be concerned about if we are to have peace on earth and goodwill toward men is the nonviolent affirmation of the sacredness of all human life. Every man is somebody because he is a child of God. And so when we say “Thou shalt not kill,” we’re really saying that human life is too sacred to be taken on the battlefields of the world. Man is more than a tiny vagary of whirling electrons or a wisp of smoke from a limitless smoldering. Man is a child of God, made in His image, and therefore must be respected as such. Until men see this everywhere, until nations see this everywhere, we will be fighting wars. One day somebody should remind us that, even though there may be political and ideological differences between us, the Vietnamese are our brothers, the Russians are our brothers, the Chinese are our brothers; and one day we’ve got to sit down together at the table of brotherhood. But in Christ there is neither Jew nor Gentile. In Christ there is neither male nor female. In Christ there is neither Communist nor capitalist. In Christ, somehow, there is neither bound nor free. We are all one in Christ Jesus. And when we truly believe in the sacredness of human personality, we won’t exploit people, we won’t trample over people with the iron feet of oppression, we won’t kill anybody...."
On April 26, 1967, at Glenville High School in Cleveland, Ohio, Dr. King Martin Luther King Jr. gave a speech that said that Black is Beautiful too in the following words:
"...Now this is all I’m saying this morning that we must feel that we count. That we belong. That we are persons. That we are children of the living God. And it means that we go down in our soul and find that somebodiness and we must never again be ashamed of ourselves. We must never be ashamed of our heritage. We must not be ashamed of the color of our skin. Black is as beautiful as any color and we must believe it.
And so every black person in this country must rise up and say I’m somebody; I have a rich proud and noble history, however painful and exploited it has been. I am black, but I am black and beautiful..."
Dr. King promised to make another Memphis march which would be peaceful. A snowstorm delayed another march. Then, Dr. King gave his famous I Have Been to the Mountaintop speech. It was his last speech on April 3, 1968. Dr. King had to be woken up from his sleep to go into the place where he gave his address. He spoke about economic justice, building up black institutions, and fighting an unjust injunction. He predicted that he wouldn't see the Promised Land, but black people will see it in the future. It was an emotional, eloquent moment where he cited Greek philosophers, Lincoln, and African people. He later celebrated in another place and came into his hotel room. Dr. King wanted to use more plans on that day. On the afternoon at 6 pm. (on April 4th, 1968), Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated with a bullet hitting his jaw. He fell to the ground. His advisers sent him to the hospital where he passed away. As we know, rebellions happened in over 100 cities afterwards. Later, people reflected on his views. Many people knew that they were wrong to slander the man, and more people gave him their respects. The historic 1999 case court case found the federal government complicit in the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. The feds deny this, but the federal government is guilty of using the FBI, the NSA, etc. of illegally spying on Dr. King and other civil rights heroes for a long time. Today, Dr. King's legacy is about volunteerism, protest, social activism, and believing in human justice.
The King Center to this day educates people on using nonviolent means to solve problems. Also, we celebrate those (in our time of 2020) fighting for racial justice, gun control, liberation for various communities, and economic justice. Dr. King went into jail many times for our freedom. Sacrifice is part of his legacy. You have to sacrifice in order to achieve freedom for real. One important point is to help the poor. Dr. King spent his life fighting for those in poverty. He visited Africa, Asia, Newark, Harlem, and other places of the world where he saw massive poverty. It is not right to witness homes filled with lead and folks dying of lead poisoning. It is not right to witness billions of people working for very little wages everyday. It is not right to witness imperialism and the lives of people ruined by war. That is why Dr. King was passionate to stand up for the interests and the dignity of the poor and the oppressed worldwide. He was right to say that the ghetto was a colony, because corporate interests dominated the ghettos for profit at the expense of the economic destinies of its residents. He wanted to end the exploitation of the poor. We have a long way to go. We don't want children being held in cages. We don't want police brutality or any other evil. We believe in democracy. We believe that any human being of any color should have equal rights. We are certainly in a class struggle in opposition to oligarchy but in favor of egalitarianism. We believe in a society filled with human tolerance and integrity. Dr. King and Coretta Scott King have 4 children of Dexter, Yolanda (who passed away years ago), Bernie, and Martin Luther King III. The couple has one granddaughter named Yolanda Renee King, and she earnestly desires justice right now. We must never forget the militancy of Dr. King. Dr. King wanted no death penalty, he opposed nuclear weapons, he support anti-colonial movements in Africa (that is why Dr. King opposed apartheid in South Africa), he believed in reparations, and he wanted billions of dollars from the federal government to eradicate poverty in America.
On this Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. holiday, we advocate his rightful views, and we should always exist as a living example of righteousness in our daily lives.
By Timothy
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