I appreciate all the good ways of honoring Dr. King that we see going on around us once a year; the honoring is so extensive that it has become a social movement in its own right, continuing the principles of non-violence and dignity, as Dr. King expected from all of us. There is no doubt a great deal to appreciate in the life of Dr. King and for all he did on behalf of the civil rights movement. However, I’m not sure the honors and actions announced around January 16th each year have plumbed the depths of his contributions; there is more to learn from Dr. King’s life and a deeper wisdom to the activist philosophy he encouraged.
Truth to tell, some of these honoring acknowledgements only go part of the way in appreciating the man. Everyone hears and repeats “I have a dream” but that is only one short phrase from a single speech from a man who delivered hundreds of speeches and sermons and authored several books. Many Americans, even among his vocal supporters, do not seem to grasp fully what a highly intelligent and man of conscience had come among them. Of course they treasure his words, as people are wont to whenever an exceptional leader represents their hopes and aspirations by speaking his mind plainly and well, but there was also a deeper foundation to all of Dr. King’s beliefs and actions.
He had the courage of his convictions and the ability to express profound thoughts. He was a student of the philosophy of Mohandas Gandhi, the Indian pacifist who championed non-violence, although some might argue Dr. King surpassed Gandhi’s teachings. Dr. King was a deeply religious Baptist minister who drew inspiration from the Bible and Christianity; no one can gainsay the truth that Dr. King’s beliefs were in keeping with the teachings of both Gandhi and Christ. He was also a civil rights leader who actively took part in marches for freedom and equality, for the right to vote and for ending segregation.
In 1955 he earned his Ph.D. in theology from Boston University, displaying an intellect and conviction soon to be deepened from years of hard-fought struggles during the civil rights movement. He was well-suited, emotionally and intellectually, to offer the nation the benefit of his knowledge and experiences. He learned to plumb to the depths of moral wisdom and inner conscience, always looking for the most rational sources of a person’s best ethical behavior and spiritual practices.
If the young people will pardon me, I wouldn’t say he was “just another” minister or “just another” civil rights leader. Dr. King was something more; he was a highly intelligent and farsighted leader who led by example in a way that is seldom acknowledged in the United States, so rarely do we see it. Dr. King taught timely lessons about individual dignity when he administered to the needs of his congregation. He gave moral courage to thousands of people who didn’t rightly know if they had what it took to stand up to the hatred and violence of racist crowds; he gave people, both black and white, that special brand of courage needed to resist non-violently.
Our nation was not ready to understand the significance of such strong moral leadership at the heart of this great movement for social change, but perhaps one day it will be. Dr. King was not entirely “of this world” even when he was being melded and tested in the midst of the climactic struggle for equality and justice. The phrase is used to suggest someone whose mind has reached a higher plane of understanding than most ordinary mortals achieve. Can you picture yourself sitting at the feet of Christ or Gandhi or Buddha or any sage? Can you picture yourself sitting at the feet of Dr. Martin Luther King? Can you picture the people of the whole nation listening to him, examining their conscience, heeding his words and following his lead? That is the kind of wisdom Dr. King represents. I am not saying he was either saint or supernatural; to the contrary, he was mortal, human, flesh-and-blood. There is no doubt of that aspect of his humanity but here we are talking of a quality of character that is intangible and harder to define. Dr. King’s life included some strands of transcendental moral insight that opened up new doors of understanding to him. Despite the unprovoked racist violence aimed at him and his supporters, he kept faith in his fellow man and understood full well why he had such faith.
Everyone should continue to celebrate his life on January 16th and everybody should try to appreciate this courageous warrior and leader. But the question remains: when will the nation acknowledge his true greatness: not just as a brave minister leading the movement to overthrow segregation in the South, but serving as a conscience for all great humanity itself? When will people acknowledge the depth of loss America and the world experienced with his murder and untimely passing? Certainly, we must shed tears for the sorrow his family had to endure . . . but perhaps we should save some few tears for ourselves, too. Dr. King may well have been our last best chance to preserve our sanity and reaffirm our national dignity, before the confusion of chaos overtakes us. Ignorance, bigotry, and violence tend to render mute all intellectual debate about morality and virtue: we may have already passed the fail-safe point and have now fallen under the inexorable influence of cultural and ethical decline. His teachings could still save us if there are enough people willing to listen to what he had to say.
I agree wholeheartedly that we should always honor Dr. King because he was an able spokesman, a courageous leader, and a humble man whose Christian values endorsed Gandhi’s principles of non-violence. Dr. King explained in eloquent and precise language what all people share in common and why there is only one family of man. We all belong to this global family even though there remain misguided individuals among us (“our sick white brothers”) who have not yet found their humanity within themselves. We are not weaker together but stronger. When we adhere to truth, love, and conscience as virtues, we make them stronger in their own right and, in the final analysis, we make them invincible attributes of human life. When we can ask and understand such questions, when we can discuss such matters forthrightly and fully, then we can rest assured we are traveling on the same path laid down by the wisdom of Dr. Martin Luther, King, Jr. We may not get as far as he did on that path but his exemplary life, and final sacrifice, encourages us to make the supreme effort. It is the best way we can pay tribute to his life and work as civil rights leader, Christian minister, and teacher of conscience.
We carry forward the torch of struggle for equality, freedom, and justice;
we carry forward Dr. King’s torch to illuminate the world and its future.
