One of the most memorable moments in my life was when I was introduced to Dr. Martin Luther King.
I remember when I was an undergraduate student completing a homework assignment given to me by my professor. Little did I know I would be introduced to a man who would impact my life forever. I remember sitting on a chair in front of a small TV screen with headphones with another student watching a film about the history of the Civil Rights movement in the United States, Eyes on the Prize.
As I started watching the film, I realized that I was witnessing the impact of one man's struggle, vision and leadership on my own life. As a new student to the US and a Sudanese-born student, I felt the connection between the struggle of Martin Luther King Jr. and myself. I began realizing that I could relate to him and his struggle. It was an extremely humbling experience as I realized I was benefitting from the effort of his hard work and dedication to creating an America that respects people of all faiths, creeds, races and ethnicities.
I looked across to the other student (who was Caucasian), with whom I was watching the film with, and I realized that I was witnessing one of the most beautiful aspects of America: its tolerance and respect for those who may seem "different."
For America to overcome racism and utter hatred of the "other," due to the work of one man is truly inspiring. I truly feel that America has its moments of conflict, confusion, and chaos, but eventually the truly great values, morals and principles overcome the darkness of ignorance, violence and intolerance. Especially for one man to stand up to injustice, intolerance, and bigotry resonates in my own religious faith and in the faiths of Christianity and Judaism. In Judaism, Moses (peace be upon him) stood up to the injustice of Pharoah, Jesus (peace be upon him) stood up for the poor, needy and neglected and the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) stood up for the poor, oppressed and neglected in the Meccan society.
The truly inspiring words of Dr. Martin Luther King, an exceptionally eloquent speaker, captured my attention. He used holy texts to relate to his audience in addressing the political situations and social problems of his time in a society where the majority adheres to the Christian faith. Yet through his wisdom he simultaneously addressed humanity in its entirety. By using the holy texts he tried to awaken the universal values and the principal of equality that is called for by all religions. His words reminded me of the verse in the Quran:
"O Mankind, we have created you in tribes and nations so that you may know one and other, and the most honorable of you in the eyes of God are those who are most conscious of God." (Chapter 49:13)
The belief in social, economic and racial equality is one that all three monotheistic religions believe in and Dr. King reminded America and the world of those beliefs through religious texts. When individuals say religion is the cause of wars and violence, they need not look far to see in fact it is not true and see the inspirational and very world-changing work of Dr. King.
It is with the same belief Mr. King had in a better tomorrow we must overcome religious bigotry, intolerance, hate, violence in not only America, but the world. Let us never underestimate the power of one man or woman in changing the lives of millions of people and creating a better future for generations to come.
We face many struggles as a nation today, but must remember to always believe in a better tomorrow and remember that while Dr. King is gone his message still resonates with us today:
"Now, I say to you today my friends, even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream. I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: -- 'We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal.'"
Martin Luther King Jr. Tribute - U2 Pride (In the Name of Love ...
A Tribute to Martin Luther King, Jr.-- National Register of Historic ...
He was amazing - no doubt - and I cherish his guidance, dedication, and sacrifice, but I think it is a misguided part of America's Hero Myth that we elevate individuals above the crowd, above the collective effort, and above the historical moment that produces them.
It is wonderful that we have a day to honor such an amazing individual, and I get that you are taking that moment reverently and not at all dismissively of either the collective effort or the historical moment.
But all larger-than-life figures have clay feet. Imagine a hypothetical scandal that exposes some heretofore unknown failure of Dr. King's. Would that change the lesson we should draw from him? Consider what has happened in the past century to Christopher Columbus' historical story. He is hardly mentioned without the rapid mention of his crimes. What lesson do we believe now?
Since I don't believe in Free Will, the lesson for me is very different. King was forced into his bravery and brilliance by his conditioning, his biology, and his historical context. His genius, fears, weaknesses, and triumphs are beautiful to me as life all around us. To me the lesson is a solace that throughout history, great people have been lifted against incalculable odds to be a voice of Justice itself.
---
MLK is one of my personal heroes, as well as an icon to the world. But I would say it is a great mistake to say that racism was overcome in this country "due to the work of one man".
King, and his family, all acknowledge that he was standing on the shoulders of so many who came before him, and with him - some famous, but so many more lost to the dustbin of history. He came along at a time when America was at a tipping point, and his gifts and his passion were well suited to leading at that moment in history. Had he been alive fifty years earlier, you would probably never know his name.
The critical point is this: To create a massive social shift, you first need a massive shift in consciousness. You've got to get a critical mass of people who start thinking the new way, rather than the old way. It's like gathering enough kindling to make a fire.
We're in the midst of that "gathering" process right now, when it comes to another group of people in this country, homosexuals. A tremendous number of people have laid the groundwork and done the legwork, preparatory to our society's finally accepting that homosexuals deserve all the rights that heterosexuals enjoy.
MLK would understand that, and I believe he would have
Both my grandfathers, white, were sharecroppers, but the typical sharecropper in the South was black, and cotton was the crop. The last year I picked cotton was 1960, the year the cotton stripper was brought ot the fields, the first year we ever saw them.
Thiis system, Jim Crow fedualism, was maintained by the entire US elite, despite the fact that the rest of the nation, NE, W and MW all had free farming and free labor capitalism, not this feudal sharecropping!
Martin Luther King stood among the leaders of an historic tidal wave.
---
Well, you can say anything you want, for the sake of your mental health - but that doesn't make it so.
The TRUTH is that the Bible was King's lifelong inspiration. He was secondarily inspired by Ghandi's ideas as well.
I'm not a Bible person, but it doesn't make me cringe to tell the truth about the matter. The Bible has some wonderfully inspiring parts, as well as some woefully uninspiring ones. The best Christians eat the chicken, and spit out the bones.
Shot rings out in the Memphis sky.
Free at last, they took your life
They could not take your pride.
~U2
That is the great dream and possibility of America, an inspiration to the world. But it was Martin Luther King who sounded a warning about the dark side of America, the nefarious activities of its military and spy agencies abroad of which most Americans are clueless, and their threat to that very dream when he said: "The bombs in Viet Nam explode at home, destroying the dream and possibility of a decent America." It is even more true today than it was then: witness Iraq, Afghanistan and Iran; witness our economic plight: 1% lording it over the 99%; witness our fragmented social life: ever more hateful of each other, suspicious of our differences rather than relishing them. We were warned and paid no heed; now, as the karmic chickens come home to roost we react with more hatred and suspicion. High water everywhere.
Why, then, have islamic countries imposed the 'Jizya tax' and punished apostasy; christians compelled conversion and encouraged anti-semitism; and jewish doctors refused to treat 'gentiles' on the sabbath?
"One goddess, two religions"
If the books were really to blame, we'd see a LOT more dogmatism from Jews, Christians and Muslims than we do."
We have seen centuries of violence, when exclusivism and evangelism meet (so this leaves Judaism out of the picture) in the histories of Christianity and Islam. Don't you see worldwide Christian predatory evangelism in Asia and Africa still? Don't you see the numerous Islamic fundamentalist movements worldwide still? And all these groups know their scripture, because with that they believe that they have divine permission to go forward with their plans.
Which scripture could the Buddhists use towards the same goals, or Hindus, or Pagans? If their scriptures held the same language and attitude, you can bet these Hindus, Buddhists etc would be just the same. Yes, its human psychology, and which becomes caught up in divine commandments (so-called).
The advance of secularism, rationality (rather than revelation) caused Christian societies to change from before. And this will be required to effect change in Islamic societies as well.
Slavery.
Dr. King,
Ended It.