Forget the Inauguration — January 20th is MLK Day!
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'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. And I'm happy, tonight. I'm not worried about anything. I'm not fearing any man. Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord.
—Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., I’ve Been to the Mountain Top speech, April 3, 1968, the day before his assassination
A host of happenings are converging this weekend and into Monday. Martin Luther King Jr. Day coinciding exactly with Donald Trump’s inauguration adds to the surrealism. What if nobody showed up for the inauguration and opted instead for a MLK celebration? And what would Dr. King have to say at this moment in time? Or, what did he say that has particular relevance today?
I opened my copy of A Testament of Hope: The Essential Writings and Speeches of Martin Luther King Jr. to where a bookmark showed where I had left off reading at least a year ago. It was the beginning of a chapter called The Ethical Demands for Integration and this is how it begins:
The problem of race and color prejudice remains America’s greatest moral dilemma. When one considers the impact it has upon our nation, internally and externally, its resolution might well determine our destiny. History has thrust upon our nation an indescribably important task — to complete a process of democratization which our nation has too long developed too slowly….How we deal with this crucial situation will determine our moral health as individuals, our cultural health as a region, our political health as a nation, and our prestige as a leader of the free world (1).
That hits home for me. Today we can look at the country and its divisions, its new leader and his racial hate- and fear-mongering and see the bitter fruit of the failure to honestly grapple with and achieve that resolution. It says a lot about how we got here and it certainly continues to shape our destiny.
Inspired by MLK Day events and the “People’s Marches” scheduled for this Saturday (2), I turned next to Dr. King’s Letter From Birmingham City Jail, an old favorite of mine that’s also included in the book. A couple of passages that give a taste:
I am cognizant of the interrelatedness of all communities and states. I cannot sit idly by in Atlanta and not be concerned about what happens in Birmingham. Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly affects all indirectly. Never again can we afford to live with the narrow, provincial ‘outside agitator’ idea. Anyone who lives inside the United States can never be considered an outsider.
….
You may well ask, ‘Why direct action, why sit-ins, marches, and so forth? Isn't negotiation a better path….’? 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 consistently refused to negotiate is forced to confront the issue. It seeks so to dramatize the issue that it can no longer be ignored….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…. (T)o create a situation so crisis-packed that it will inevitably open the door to negotiation. We therefore concur with you in your call for negotiation. Too long has our beloved Southland been bogged down in the tragic attempt to live in monologue rather than dialogue (3).
It’s not at all surprisingly to me that so much of what MLK said over the course of his short life still resonates so deeply and rings with a moral authority that continues to inspire.
I don’t imagine we’ll be hearing much about MLK and nonviolence at the rallies or the inauguration, but we can remember to keep our eyes on the prize (4). We can join with others in solidarity on Saturday (and there will plenty more opportunities). Then, on Monday, we can forget the inauguration and celebrate Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s birthday instead (5).
And if you want to hear the clarion call of his voice again I highly recommend the Beyond Vietnam speech. The contrast with Trump’s message (and style) could hardly be starker.
Notes
1. The speech was delivered in Nashville, TN on Dec. 27, 1962 at a church conference.
3. You can read the full letter here.
4. "Keep Your Eyes on the Prize" is a folk song (based on a gospel song) that was inspirational during the Civil Rights Movement. “Eyes on the Prize” is also the title of a very fine PBS film series.
King Center events include a Beloved Community Commemorative Service on the 20th at 9:00 am ET.
Thank you Scott. Thank you for raising up the compelling vision of beloved community and Rev. King’s call for unity consciousness, a World House. That’s where I want to live. Let’s all go there together. I am mourning what I perceive as over emphasis on the same old anti anti everything change strategies that don’t get the results we all yearn for. I recently received an invitation to join with respected others where an effigy of DT will be burned and cheered. I get it. I do. I just don’t live there anymore.
I'm with you Rocky, or at least I do my best to be. I get it too and I played that blame game for many years. There's a lot of sadness to be with these days, and clearly resistance is necessary. It's when I'm at my most honest about how deep the darkness is that love as the answer shines forth the brightest for me.