Remembering Martin Luther King, Jr.

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Martin Luther King, Jr. at Springfield College in 1964

Martin Luther King, Jr. at Springfield College in 1964

One of the shining moments in Springfield College’s history occurred in June 1964, when Springfield College worked to have Martin Luther King, Jr. released from jail in St Augustine, Fla. King, who had been arrested for requesting service at an all-white restaurant, was scheduled to give the commencement address and receive an honorary doctoral degree on the Springfield College campus. College President Glenn A. Olds was under pressure from the F.B.I. and others to cancel the invitation to King. One benefactor, who had floated the idea that a $1 million donation might be announced at graduation, summoned Olds to his home and, shaking with rage, tore up the check in Olds’ presence. Olds held fast, and King delivered his stirring remarks.



http://www.spfldcol.edu/homepage/de...738E005FDA74/377D694A1CAE2B72852576AB0053B1A8

 

Remembering MLK: What Martin Luther King, Jr. Taught Us About Working Around Life’s O

Remembering MLK: What Martin Luther King, Jr. Taught Us About Working Around Life’s Obstacles


Throughout the 1950s and ’60s, Dr. King inspired many in this country to imagine a world where freedom, brotherhood and equality were the commonplace texture of relationships, discourse and societal interactions. He encouraged us not only to dream but to act on those dreams. His inspiration and actions serve as a reminder that no matter the situation or the odds, there are still steps you can take to make a difference, to find a way to overcome what’s in the way, to work around the numerous obstacles.

We all know his famous “I Have a Dream” speech, delivered on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C., that summer’s day, Aug. 28, 1963. Excerpted from that stirring moment are these powerful words, equally as relevant today as they were in 1963:

"I have a dream today. … With this faith we will be able to hew out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope. With this faith we will be able to transform the jangling discords of our nation into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood."

Clearly, we still have jangling discords that are tearing away at our social fabric. Racism has not gone away, and people continue to bring violence toward one another. What many of us may not know, however, is Dr. King’s deeply held conviction that we are all connected, that what one of us suffers impinges on the well-being of another. As he said in his Commencement address to Oberlin College in June 1965:

"All I’m saying is simply this: that all life is interrelated, that somehow we’re caught in an inescapable network of mutuality tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly affects all indirectly. For some strange reason, I can never be what I ought to be until you are what you ought to be. You can never be what you ought to be until I am what I ought to be. This is the interrelated structure of reality."

Martin Luther King not only taught us that dreams require commitment in order to come true, but that if freedom is the outcome, love is the way. He did not preach of a love found in the safety of our homes but of a love demonstrated in active engagement with the world. His was not a love that you could earn but a love born of the realization that without love, there would be no life. In a sermon entitled “Strength to Love,” delivered in 1963, he said:

" Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that. Hate multiplies hate, violence multiplies violence, and toughness multiplies toughness in a descending spiral of destruction. … The chain reaction of evil — hate begetting hate, wars producing more wars — must be broken, or we shall be plunged into the dark abyss of annihilation."


Lessons We Can All Apply to Overcome What Stands in Our Way

In many ways my new book, “Workarounds That Work: How to Conquer Anything That Stands in Your Way at Work,” was inspired by the commitment and courage of Martin Luther King, Jr. I walked many a strike line at Berkeley and San Francisco State, ate my share of tear gas, and came to my own awakening that “if you’re not part of the solution, you’re part of the problem.” Eldridge Cleaver made that quote famous at the same time that Dr. King was daring us to dream.

From those days of social strife and cultural change, I learned several powerful strategies to help one overcome whatever might be preventing him or her from moving ahead in life. Those lessons and strategies have become integral to how I live my own life and to the work I have done for four decades now helping people create the lives they want rather than the lives they settle for.

The advice contained in my book had its earliest roots in the influence of Dr. King, and the advice applies equally well to your personal life as to life on the job. There are three key principles in creating workarounds that work: intention, accountability and response-ability.

The “I Have a Dream” speech is a riveting example of holding a clear intention and a strong focus on a desired outcome. Without a clear vision of where you are heading, how can you possibly choose a path forward?

However, vision without commitment is hardly a dream worth dreaming. Dr. King not only had a powerful intention made clear in his “Dream” speech, but he also demonstrated a profound willingness to be accountable. Accountability in this instance does not have anything to do with blame or fault; rather, Dr. King’s advocated a kind of accountability that I call one’s willingness to own the outcome. Indeed, he demonstrated an unwavering commitment to own the outcome of peace and freedom reflected in his dream.

Response-ability is the simple yet sometimes evasive element that enables the dream to come true. In any situation requiring change, there are multiple options (responses) from which you might choose coupled with differentiated abilities you might possess to exercise those responses. Dr. King did not have what I call a “perfectionally correct” choice available, one that would easily and effortlessly produce the desired outcome. He did, however, have a “directionally correct” choice available.

My favorite work around question is so clearly highlighted by the choices Dr. King made repeatedly: what can you do that would make a difference that requires no one’s permission other than your own? While he did not have a perfect choice available, he did exercise what limited control he did have: he held strong to his values, nourished his dream and took those non-violent steps available to him. He clearly understood that by doing what he could, no matter how apparently small and inconsequential the step, he would be encouraging others to take whatever small steps they might have available, as well.

By controlling what he could and demonstrating his willingness to remain actively involved in making his dream a reality, Dr. King influenced first a small band of followers, and eventually an entire nation, to move forward.

By learning from Dr. King and applying his courage to your own life, you can, indeed, make a difference. Perhaps the difference you can make will rise to the level of consequence that Dr. King was able to put into motion for a nation. For most, the difference you can make will be in the quality of your own life. Hold the intention to do so, own the outcome you seek, and do what you can to make that difference. From there, you may be able to influence others to make similar improvements, as well. As Dr. King said in Oberlin, “Whatever affects one directly affects all indirectly.”

 

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Martin

Martin , what are you dreaming now
Is it the same as then
That comes from mind and pen
And colour is only the ink we chose
A man of season before your time
But time enough ,you gave a sign
And walk with dignity , through a thick white line
But fear of change in minds that loom
Brought the assassins bullet ,all too soon
From the mindless shot outside your room
To silence your dreams , forever
Instead it sent a shiver
To which only made you louder
And made your people stronger
To a strength that became a hunger
For freedom of rights , and liberties bell
Let angels sing , I hear you tell
The power of mind , and dignity of creed
To live with honour and plant a seed
To love your neighbour and your colour
To cherish your life , as your mother
Embraced your enemies as your brother
To walk through hardship and never falter
You never got there with them
The promised land , your peoples shelter
You see Martin
You were already there

-Robert Anderson

​

 

"The Dream"


Is the dream still alive
Do people continue to strive
To make this world a better land
Where man is joined hand in hand

Hope, peace, and love is the order of the day
Hate, despair, and bitterness has been cast away
Where every man can make it regardless of his race
To work hard and find his rightful place

Or are we content to dwell in the past
Hoping the efforts of generations gone will last
And the lessons taught long ago won't be lost
On generations not willing to pay the cost

Realizing that freedom is not free
And that the visions that one man was able to see
Is a way of life that should be practiced not merely taught
That's the dream that Dr. King sought

It's a dream that's still possible to find
It's a dream that lies in the heart of all mankind

-Roaring Lion​

 

Thanks, NI. I'm glad you got to go. That long walk & the area it covers would definitely be rough on those folks. Hopefully at some point they'll come up with something to remedy that.

 

MLK's Letter from Birmingham Jail - "A Call for Unity" (1963)

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Corey Jones as MLK Jr.

 

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Thanks, Mikey. I won't forget.

Official dedication of MLK Memorial to be held October 16

Washington (CNN) -- The official dedication of the Martin Luther King Jr. National Memorial in Washington, which was postponed because of Hurricane Irene last month, will be held on October 16, Harry Johnson Sr., head of the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. National Memorial Foundation, said Saturday.

The date was set in consultation with the White House as President Barack Obama is expected to speak at the ceremony.

The dedication of the $120 million memorial was to coincide with the 48th anniversary of the historic March on Washington and King's famed "I Have A Dream" speech on August 28. But while many of the weekend events went ahead, the centerpiece dedication was postponed as the East Coast hunkered down for the battering winds and rains of Hurricane Irene.

The memorial site, which features a striking 30-foot statue of King gazing out on the iconic Tidal Basin, lies between the Lincoln Memorial and the Thomas Jefferson Memorial on the National Mall. The statue, representing a "Stone of Hope," sits forward from a "Mountain of Despair."

Visitors pass through the mountain on their way to King's statue and an expanse along the Basin rimmed with an inscription wall covered with stone carvings of some of his most famous quotes. The four-acre area will also feature the iconic cherry blossom trees that draw thousands of tourists to the Mall each spring.

 

Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial is richly deserved

Washington (CNN) -- It's only fitting that during the week we were to dedicate the memorial in Washington to the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., an earthquake would hit the region and the entire East Coast would be bracing itself for a hurricane.

When we think about the enormity of King's work, in which he gave his life, as well as the many folks who also fought in the civil rights movement, we realize that their actions struck at this nation's core with a ferocity never seen before.

At Thursday's MLK Memorial Foundation luncheon honoring the veterans of the movement, former U.S. Rep. Bill Gray said the civil rights movement was America's third revolution, following the American Revolution and the Civil War.

Some critics of the King Memorial claim that because he wasn't a president, he doesn't deserve such an honor on the National Mall. But that isn't so, and we should forever be thankful for Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity Inc. -- King's fraternity and mine -- for leading the effort over the past 25 years to make this happen.

It is important to understand that King's place on the mall is appropriate.

Across the tidal basin is the Thomas Jefferson Memorial, which honors the man who articulated the vision of America. To the left is the Washington Monument, which honors the man who led the nation in the fight to establish the United States of America. Behind the King monument is the Abraham Lincoln Memorial, dedicated to the man who kept America from tearing apart.

But out of all of these men, it took a King to force America to live up to its ideals. Americans loved to recite the Declaration of Independence and the U.S. Constitution, but for many, those were simply words.

People really didn't understand what it meant to be an American until King and many domestics, postal workers, day laborers, doctors and lawyers forced the nation to make equal rights happen.

So when Americans now travel to the nation's capital, they can pay homage to a great man who was serious about his work, serious about the plight of the poor and the disenfranchised and serious about making America better.

The King Memorial, although bearing his name, really represents freedom fighters.

What should inspire all who see it is that no matter your station in life, you can make a difference. King was just 25 when he was drafted into the movement.

If there is something in your community that needs to be addressed, do it. Don't wait. Don't whine. Don't complain. Don't pass the buck.

Just be willing to serve, care and do it out of love and compassion.