The New Mexico Black Leadership Council revisits Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s words and the stark realities behind the exalted legend.
The national holiday honoring Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. is Monday, January 18, 2021. For this blog post I took a deep dive into five of his essays and speeches, some famous, some not so famous. I wanted to get a closer look at what he had to say back then and how some of it might apply to what’s happening today. Something beyond the usual oft-circulated quote bits of “I have a dream” and “justice too long delayed is justice denied.” Here’s what I found.
(Note: At the end of the post is a link to local virtual events commemorating Martin Luther King, Jr.)
“And so we’ve come to cash this check, a check that will give us upon demand the riches of freedom and the security of justice.”
— Martin Luther King, Jr., “I Have a Dream”
Martin Luther King, Jr. On the “Right” Time and “Right” Way to Protest
“Letter from Birmingham Jail”
1963
The following excerpts are from an open letter that Dr. King wrote while jailed in Birmingham for taking part in civil rights demonstrations. Eight white, liberal Alabama clergymen had called on King to allow integration to play out in court instead of through nonviolent protest. It was not very often that Dr. King took the time to respond to his detractors, but in this case he made an exception.
“You may well ask, ‘Why direct action? Why sit-ins, marches, etc.? Isn’t negotiation a better path?’ You are exactly right in your call for negotiation. Indeed, this is the purpose of direct action. Nonviolent direct action seeks to create such a crisis and establish such creative tension that a community that has constantly refused to negotiate is forced to confront the issue. It seeks so to dramatize the issue that it can no longer be ignored. I just referred to the creation of tension as a part of the work of the nonviolent resistor. This may sound rather shocking. But I must confess that I am not afraid of the word tension. I have earnestly worked and preached against violent tension, but there is a type of constructive nonviolent tension that is necessary for growth.”
“We know through painful experience that freedom is never voluntarily given by the oppressor; it must be demanded by the oppressed. Frankly, I have never yet engaged in a direct action movement that was ‘well-timed,’ according to the timetable of those who have not suffered unduly from the disease of segregation.”
“For years now I have heard the words ‘Wait!’ It rings in the ear of every Negro with a piercing familiarity. This ‘Wait’ has almost always meant ‘Never.’”
—Martin Luther King, Jr., “Letter from Birmingham Jail”
The Realities and Legacy of Police Brutality
“I Have a Dream”
1963
Folded within the optimistic and transcendent spirituality blanket of Dr. King‘s most famous speech are stark expressions of frustration. He offers a glimpse into the reckoning to be faced by the United States regarding treatment of Black peoples.
“And those who hope that the Negro needed to blow off steam and will now be content, will have a rude awakening if the nation returns to business as usual.”
“There will be neither rest nor tranquility in America until the Negro is granted his citizenship rights. The whirlwinds of revolt will continue to shake the foundations of our nation until the bright day of justice emerges.”
“There are those who are asking the devotees of civil rights, ‘When will you be satisfied?’ We can never be satisfied as long as the Negro is the victim of the unspeakable horrors of police brutality.”
“At that moment it seemed as if the Kingdom of God appeared. But it only lasted for a moment.“
—Coretta King on her husband’s speech that historic day in Washington, DC.
Examining Democracy and Economic Power
The following are from King’s article “Black Power Defined” summarizing his understanding of African American nationalism. His book titled Where Do We Go from Here: Chaos or Community, published in 1967, further analyzes what he views as the merits and drawbacks of the Black Power movement.
“Negroes have illuminated imperfections in the democratic structure that were formerly only dimly perceived, and have forced a concerned reexamination of the true meaning of American democracy. As a consequence of the vigorous Negro protest, the whole nation has for a decade probed more searchingly the essential nature of democracy, both economic and political.”
“The other economic lever available to the Negro is as a consumer. . . . In Birmingham it was not the marching alone that brought about integration of public facilities in 1963. The downtown business establishments suffered for weeks under our most unbelievably effective boycott. The significant percentage of their sales that vanished, the ninety-eight percent of their Negro customers who stayed home, educated them forcefully to the dignity of the Negro as a consumer.”
Martin Luther King’s Words – Chilling Prophecies
“Showdown for Nonviolence”
1968
Before he was assassinated, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. had expanded his mission to include economic justice for all people regardless of race. The Poor People’s Campaign, that he organized along with the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, lost steam in the wake of King’s assassination and the escalation of the Vietnam War. Recent events, including those of this past year, seem to be foretold in some of Dr. King’s words of the corrupting and rotting effects of extreme poverty on a civilization.
“There is an Old Testament prophecy of the ‘sins of the fathers being visited upon the third and fourth generations.’ Nothing could be more applicable to our situation. America is reaping the harvest of hate and shame planted through generations of educational denial, political disenfranchisement and economic exploitation of its black population. Now, almost a century removed from slavery, we find the heritage of oppression and racism erupting in our cities, with volcanic lava of bitterness and frustration pouring down our avenues.”
“In spite of years of national progress, the plight of the poor is worsening. Jobs are on the decline as a result of technological change, schools North and South are proving themselves more and more inadequate to the task of providing adequate education and thereby entrance into the mainstream of the society. Medical care is virtually out of reach of millions of black and white poor. They are aware of the great advances of medical science—heart transplants, miracle drugs—but their children still die of preventable diseases.”
Injustice takes Its Toll on Humanity
“I See the Promised Land”
1968
On the eve of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.‘s assassination, he was in Memphis in support of the sanitation workers strike. It was his last action of commitment to his broader vision of economic justice for all people. In reading the speech, I was struck by how loosely it was structured in comparison to his other essays and speeches. There’s an almost rambling stream of consciousness quality to it. It’s as if he was bone tired, soul tired, and already straddling the line between this world and the next. An autopsy conducted after his murder revealed that his heart resembled that of a 60-year-old. Dr. King was thirty-nine at the time of his death. It’s a sobering illustration of how, as accomplished and as exceptional as Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was, and in contrast to our exalted, mythic, nearly superhuman view of him, he was a man. A human being bearing the brunt and the scars and the never fading injury of being an advocate against injustice while also a recipient of it.
“That is where we are today. And also in the human rights revolution, if something isn’t done, and in a hurry, to bring the colored peoples of the world out of their long years of poverty, the long years of hurt and neglect, the whole world is doomed. Now, I’m just happy that God has allowed me to live in this period, to see what is unfolding. And I’m happy that he’s allowed me to be in Memphis.”
“And that’s all this whole thing is about. We aren’t engaged in any negative protest and any negative arguments with anybody. We are saying that we are determined to be men. We are determined to be people. We are saying that we are God’s children. And that we don’t have to live like we are forced to live.”
“And then I got into Memphis. And some began to say the threats, or talk about the threats that were out. What would happen to me from some of our sick white brothers?
Well, I don’t know what will happen now. We’ve got some difficult days ahead. But it doesn’t matter with me now. Because I’ve been to the mountaintop. And I don’t mind. Like anybody, I would like to live a long life. Longevity has its place. But I’m not concerned about that now. I just want to do God’s will. And He’s allowed me to go up to the mountain. And I’ve looked over. And I’ve seen the promised land. I may not get there with you. But I want you to know tonight, that we, as a people will get to the promised land.”
We are determined to be people. We are saying that we are God’s children.
—Martin Luther King, Jr. “I See the Promised Land”
For a list of local virtual events commemorating Martin Luther King, Jr., click here to view our January calendar. Due to COVID-19, the annual MLK March in Albuquerque is cancelled.
Source: A Testament of Hope: The Essential Writings and Speeches of Martin Luther King, Jr., Edited by James M. Washington