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Posts tagged ‘Martin Luther King’

Nov 7

The Promised Land

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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. 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.

Nov 6

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Looking Over the Mountaintop

“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!” – 1968, Martin Luther King, Jr.

King’s “Mountaintop” speech was prophetic on many levels. It was his last speech and he seemed eerily aware of his own impending assassination the following day. It was also a prophecy for the future of America. Somehow King clearly saw our future and knew this day would come. I have great pride as an American that is has. I wish that Martin Luther King was here to see it but perhaps he really did see it all those years ago.

Millions of Americans woke up Wednesday morning to a new country – one where skin color no longer mattered to the majority. Colin Powell cried. A three star general. Yes, it was that important. Every person of color, not just in America, but around the world can lift their head a little higher and be a little more self confident knowing that Barack Obama has blazed a trail for them that 40 years ago would have been unthinkable.

Of course, this presidential race was about more than skin color, it was about “content of character” as King hoped one day it would be. But there is still much work ahead. The struggle is not over. As John F. Kennedy once said, “All this will not be finished in the first one hundred days. Nor will it be finished in the first one thousand days; nor in the life of this Administration; nor even perhaps in our lifetime on this planet. But let us begin.”

God, I’m happy to be alive at this moment in history.

Sep 16

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Turn the Other Cheek?

Last week in New Delhi, a radical group of Muslims bombed at market full of civilians. The Muslim militant group Indian Mujahedeen took responsibility. The group sent an email to the media five minutes before the first bomb went off. I realize this happens all the time and not just in India. The problem is that it is happening more. The other problem is that we are allowing it to happen more.

I’m safely tucked away in middle America. Not much happens here. But this is really beginning to trouble me. It’s not just because soon enough it will spread here (which it will) but it is a philosophical, spiritual problem. How do we deal with it?

In the Bible (Matthew 5:39), Jesus tells us to turn the other cheek to evil. This simple passage has changed the world in so many ways. Martin Luther King, Jr. and Gandhi practiced this core belief in their peaceful protests. Even in the face of death, they both turned the other cheek. When freedom riders were beat to death in the racist American south of the 1950′s and 1960′s, they did not fight back. Where did these people get the moral integrity to stand for peace when other stood for violence.

Obviously, the problem of evil is a very, very old one and anything can be evil to someone. However, I think we can all agree that blowing up a market full of families is truly evil. What would make someone do this? What is the psychology of these people. Is there any rationality at all? I hate these people but I want to understand.

“Fear leads to anger. Anger leads to hate. Hate leads to suffering.” – Yoda

Mar 11

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Hoodwinked and Bamboozled

I’ve always enjoyed talking politics with friends. I’ve even stayed in touch with History and Political Science professors from my undergraduate days. A few days ago, while talking with a former History professor, I realized that not everyone sees America the way I do. I told him that for the first time in my life I was really optimistic about a presidential candidate. I wasn’t just being forced to choose from two stooges that special interests had propped up. My optimism came from the little known U.S. senator, Barack Obama.

My professor, a man have great respect for, told me that Obama could never be president because he was black. I was stunned. Perhaps I shouldn’t have been. Maybe lots of people feel that way. But there are lots more that don’t. There are people who are donating to Obama’s campaign that can’t afford to donate. People are now voting in primaries that have never voted before. I think that people are beginning to realize that they have been hoodwinked and bamboozled by special interests and incompetence.
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Jul 31

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Outer Space and Inner Peace

I went to the Smithsonian Air and Space museum this weekend in Washington, D.C. Since I’ve been there about 90 times, you would think that I would get tired of going, but I never seem to. Some of the technology there has been used to destroy, though much of it was done for the good of humanity and pure scientific curiosity. There is no national strategic interest in exploring Saturn or Venus. Nevertheless, we have. The Air and Space museum reminds me of the amazing things we have done in just the past 100 years and inspires me to wonder what will come next.

I always make a trip to the Lincoln Memorial when I’m in Washington. It’s like a pilgrimage. For me, it’s not so much just about Lincoln as it is about the larger issue of civil rights. Watching old video of the March on Washington where Martin Luther King, Jr. delivered “I Have a Dream” is one of those rare moments in American history when truth triumphed over ignorance. Standing on the steps where MLK once stood, looking out over the landscape, seeing the Vietnam, Korean, and WWII memorials, the Washington Monument and in the distance, the U.S. Capitol really is an amazing site. And to see that people from around the world are still coming to visit offers hope that the perhaps the American dream is alive.

Jan 9

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Words That Changed the World

When I really started to understand what had gone on 30 years before me – during the 50′s and 60′s and how divided the country was about the color of someone’s skin – was in high school. Racism was a little confusing to suburban GenXer’s who never experienced that America. Today, America is better because a new generation, a generation that grew up believing in equal opportunities, is now taking up leadership positions around the country. I grew up with kids from all over the world. Different races, ethnicities, from many different countries. How could I think that I was any better than the kid sitting next to me who went to the same school, lived in the same neighborhood, and and drank from the same water fountain? Unfortunately, this was not the experience of my parents or their parents. They lived in a world where if you were black you had to sit in a certain place on the bus, go to a different school, live in a different neighborhood … drink from a different water fountain. We recognize the utter stupidity of this now.
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