Dr. King's Prophetic Call to Conscience and Action Today

With the economy slipping into recession and more than 160,000 American fighting men and women in Iraq combat zones and no end to the war in sight, these are trying times for our nation. Unemployment, underemployment and poverty are afflicting more and more American families who face rising costs for food, health care, gas, heating oil and other expenses. Working families have been hit hard by the skyrocketing costs of sending their children to college and the subprime mortgage crisis while the rich keep getting richer and the poor poorer. Almost 13 million children are poor, with 5.6 million living in extreme poverty. Since 2000, child poverty has increased by 10.7 percent. Currently 9.4 million children lack health insurance; nearly 90 percent of them live in working families. Over the past two years the number of uninsured children has increased by more than one million.

As we celebrate the birthday of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and as we commemorate the 40th anniversary of his Poor People's Campaign for which I was privileged to serve as counsel and Congressional liaison, it's instructive to look back at what Dr. King has to tell us. In his sermon, "Remaining Awake Through a Great Revolution," delivered at the National Cathedral in Washington, D.C., on March 31, 1968, the Sunday before his assassination, he warned us again of the triple threats of racism, excessive materialism and militarism, and called on our rich nation to end poverty.

He told the story of the rich man Dives and the poor man Lazarus and said Dives didn't go to hell because he was rich; he went to hell because he refused to see and help Lazarus. Dr. King feared America might make the same mistake and said our wealth could be our salvation or our downfall. He said the U.S. had the resources to get rid of poverty. The real question is if we have the will.

"This," he said, "is America's opportunity to help bridge the gulf between the haves and the have-nots.... There is nothing new about poverty. What is new is that we now have the techniques and the resources to get rid of poverty. The real question is whether we have the will."

"In a few weeks some of us are coming to Washington to see if the will is still alive or if it is alive in this nation. We are coming to Washington in a Poor Peoples Campaign. Yes, we are going to bring the tired, the poor, the huddled masses. We are going to bring those who have known long years of hurt and neglect...."

"We are coming to demand that the government address itself to the problem of poverty. We read one day, 'We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness.' But if a man doesn't have a job or an income, he has neither life nor liberty nor the possibility for the pursuit of happiness. He merely exists...."

"And we are coming to engage in dramatic nonviolent action, to call attention to the gulf between promise and fulfillment; to make the invisible visible."

"We do it this way because it is our experience that the nation doesn't move around questions of genuine equality for the poor and for Black people until it is confronted massively, dramatically, in terms of direct action."

Dr. King's position on the Vietnam War was profoundly prophetic if one just substitutes " Iraq" for " Vietnam." He warned that the U.S. would continue to have " Vietnams" unless we confronted our deeply ingrained militarism. This is a time when many of our sons and daughters and husbands and wives are bogged down in a military quagmire in Iraq, and recruits aged 17 and up are currently given bonuses of thousands of dollars to enlist in the Army, many of whom are having a hard time finding employment in today's economy. Dr. King makes us mindful of the misguided priorities of a nation whose poor children are being sent to war and its poor children of color to prison rather than to college and good paying jobs at home. With the amount we spent in Iraq last year, all children and pregnant women could be provided with access to comprehensive health coverage and every poor child in America could be lifted out of poverty, and we would still have $65 billion left over.

Just as he decried how the Vietnam War "has played havoc with our domestic destinies" including the need to eradicate poverty in 1968, so the Iraq war is stealing from our children and families the health care, education, housing and food they need to survive and thrive now.

"We have alienated ourselves from other nations so we end up morally and politically isolated in the world," Dr. King said 40 years ago. These words ring true today.

So many of us love to celebrate Martin Luther King, Jr. It is time to follow him. We ignore his truths at individual and national peril.

Comments

[BUSHsurvivor]

But if a man doesn't have a job or an income, he has neither life nor liberty nor the possibility for the pursuit of happiness. He merely exists...."



So true!

[Mort]

While I agree with you and Dr. King on many of the struggles and needs of this nation and our society, I don't think we can blame the government or color for all the people in our prisons. Part of it is our lack of parenting. We've neglected to teach our children the value of work, respect of others and obedience to the law. And a large share must go to the criminals themselves. If color and economy make people criminals, why are there so many outstanding citizens like Obama and yourself? There are people all over the world who live in poverty, who suffer abuse or discrimination, and yet choose to live honorable, law abiding lives. In spite of our enviroment, our upbringing and all other factors, we are ultimately responsible for our own actions. Those who break the law choose to do so. No amount of rationalizing or enabling will change that.

[Rabbin]

How wonderful it was when Dr. King spoke up for those of this nation by race were being persecuted due to human racial arrogance and human pride not for mankind but for self!

The Bible teaches, that it was instructed to the Israelites not to mix with the pagans of those other lands. Paganism is a bad spirit not a bad race! However since the time of Cain after we took from the tree of knowledge it was that the spirit of life and of God became lost into other things. The difference is not in race but in what is good and what is bad! Therefore the rich strive to let the poor get poorer and the rich to become richer! As it is written if ye desire the things of this world ye can have no part of my Fathers world!

Take hold I feel that for today's politicians and many church leaders are trying only to fill there cups with the things of this world and and to continue to feed the poor as dogs under their tables of plenty.

We Christians can count on forgiveness however as it is written if we can't forgive than how can be forgiven and receive the promises of our Creator? All should remember the wisdom of these words given to all of mankind so many years ago!

May God have mercy upon all our souls both the black and the white rich or poor for in the end as it is written in the Bible we shall all one day be left lie together and not be judged by our deeds but by what is in our hearts!

[Ravenlea]

Eloquently spoken. And Dr. King's words still have the power to nurture the soul in some way.

If he were alive, I like to think that he would be proud of Mr. Obama's gifts and his success as a candidate, but I think his support would have gone to Dennis Kucinich who actually embodies the things that Dr. King stood for. I might be wrong, but it makes me happy to think so. Of course, if he were alive today, Dr. King's voice might be as easily silenced as Mr. Kucinich's is by a media which has no shame and feels that it, rather than the people of this country, should control who we get to choose.

Thank you for all your work for the social good and for reminding us of some important truths.

[tiggersthotfulspot]

Dr King's criticism of excessive materialism and imperialism is not allowed to appear in the corporate owned media. You're supposed to just click on the ads and salute the flag.

To paraphrase Dr King: A nation that continues to spend more on weapons and war than on programs of social uplift is spiritually dead.

We've been that spiritually dead nation for more than 40 years.

[kathcalla]

Ms. Edelman,
I admire your work so very very much...I'm a licensed independent clinical social worker who counsels and advocates for kids...

I hope and pray you endorse Barack Obama. I respect whatever you choose to do!

Kathy Callahan, LCSW, LICSW

[MartinEdwinAndersen]

Martin Luther King, Jr., talked about his dream of living in a nation where people will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.



Barack Obama ran and won in the Iowa caucus by promising to unite "red" states and "blue" states in a common national cause.



Then he was ambushed by the Clintons, who knowing there are more white voters than black voters in the country, sought to define Obama as the "black" candidate, putting the filter of race in a campaign where it previously did NOT exist.



( As Newsweek is reporting, Sen. Ted Kennedy has accused Bill Clinton of injecting race into the campaign. See: http://www.newsweek.com/id/96385])




Frankly, it makes me sick to my stomach that race is being used--in 2008!--in a Democratic contest. And now the Clintons will parade in front of black churches on MLK Day, claiming that is was all one big misunderstanding.



We know what the meaning of "is" is. And this "is" wrong!!!


Martin Edwin "Mick" Andersen

[KarenZipdrive]

Amen, Ms. Edelman.
More than 100,000 people are expected to march in memory of Dr. King today in my hometown San Antonio, Texas.
Not bad for the same state that brought us that racist imbecile carpetbagger George W. Bush.
Peace to you and yours on this very special holiday. Happy Birthday, Dr. King. We miss you.

[Emmagoldmanbabe]

My local radio station played the "I Have a Dream" speech this morning. I wept not only because Dr. King's promise was lost in his murder, but because I kept thinking "how far backwards we've come". Today, we have more people in prisons than ever before. We are further from econimic justice for all than ever, and the only options for most poor folk are the military or drug dealing.

I hope and pray that we can come to our senses, soon.

[itsnotmyfault]

Regardless of the outcome of the democratic nominating process, Democrats of good conscience can take comfort that the fundamentals, which Ms. Edelman speaks of so eloquently, are reflected in the core values of each of the candidates. The national election is vitally important. It is an opportunity to begin to positively address the grave needs of all of our citizens and repair our nations moral and political standing in the world.

Thank you Ms. Edelman for your brilliance and your passion.

[Bocababs]

Happy Martin Luther King Day to all who believe in those powerful words and deeds that he inspired all of us to do....Black and White alike.

[dana94591]

Thank you, Ms. Wright-Edelman. You put all of this in prospective. We have never been so far from the Truth or the purpose of our Nation as we are now. This administration has swiftly diverted our government and wounded its spirit. No wonder everyone wants to run towards HOPE!!! We are not living the truth! We are in the middle of a Big, Fat Lie!!! I have never felt as separated from my country as I do now. Thank you Ms. Wright-Edelman. We are a suffering country as well as a suffering planet. We have to stop this tide and get it to go in a NEW direction: Towards Hope and Renewal.

[RevStrickler]

Ms. Edelman
Thank-You for the article. In our current time when 'conscience' appears to become inuslated and dropped from usage toward action, I applaud your choice of the word conscience.

From my limited view, Dr. King was a leader and a great human being who discovered a wellspring of courage within himself that he used to help people find their own courage and the will to action. Just like our Founding Fathers exercising their courage to right action against the confining monarch of their days, because their conscience heard and followed those invisible principles that awaken one to see necessary action to bring about a revolutionary change, a beginning, for a brighter world.

I never saw 'hope' with Dr. King, I saw courage and the ability to act upon whatever Truth with courage and committment that follows with decisive right action. That is my small view of this great human being. He helped me find the way to summon up the necessary courage to become what I wanted to be and the confidence I could have it or bring it about.

It's about time to see the word conscience renovate movement forward into a brighter history where a clarion call to our human spirit summons up whatever courage we need to bring about positive long term change needed for the world to walk with us into brighter days and years where 'We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness.'

Gratia vobis et pax a Deo Patre nostro et Domino Iesu Christo ( Grace be unto you, and peace, from God our Father, and from the Lord Jesus )

[1dogs2]

Amen.

[Jane22]

You are so correct, Ms. Edelman. You and Dr. King are two of my heroes. I have both learned and been inspired by your words of absolute TRUTH. Those of us who choose love follow Our Collective Dream. "That which you do to the least of my bretheran, you do unto me".

Thank You, Bless you. May Peace Be Found For this Suffering Planet. Why can we not choose life instead of death? All we can do is try to reach those who will not See. Peace, J22